Effect of lead oxide on the optical properties and radiation shielding efficiency of antimony-sodium-tungsten glasses

This paper reports the effect of lead oxide (PbO) on the optical properties and radiation shielding efficiency of Sb${}_2$O${}_3$–Na${}_2$O–WO${}_3$–PbO glasses. The optical properties of the glasses were tested by estimating molar refraction (R${}_m$), molar polarizability (α${}_m$), metallization principle (M), optical transmission (T), dielectric coefficients (static and optical), and reflection loss (R${}_L$). Additionally, the gamma radiation shielding efficiency of the glasses was evaluated via the Monte Carlo method (Geant4 simulations) and the XCOM program. The mass attenuation coefficient (µ/ρ) and other related factors such as effective atomic number (Z${}_{eff}$), half-value layer (HVL), and mean free path (MFP) were calculated at the energy range of 0.25–1.25 meV. Furthermore, the dependence of radiation protection efficiency (RPE) on the thickness of glasses was discussed in detail. The results revealed that at 40 mol% of PbO, the optical transmission was 0.7774 and the reflection loss was 1.1997. A notable increase in RPE as the thickness of the glass changes from 0.5 to 2 cm. The gamma shielding efficiency of the glasses was compared with those of commonly used shields. The reported glasses showed superior properties to apply for radiation shielding applications.