Effect of Nd2O3 concentration on radiations shielding properties of Gd3+-doped borate glasses: a theoretical investigation using Phy-X Software

In this study, we investigate the shielding properties of borate glass systems [30Li2O + 10MgO + 5Gd2O3 + (55-x)B2O3 + xNd2O3], where x = 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 mol %: by varying x, the concentration of both B2O3 and Nd2O3 changes. We exploit robust Phy-X software, developed for photon shielding and dosimetry, to carry out the calculations for the determination of the shielding properties such as linear and mass attenuation coefficients, effective atomic number, half value layer, mean free path, and tenth value layer versus photon energy in the range of 0.08 to 15 MeV. The HVL decreases from 9.91 to 8.86 cm while moving from sample 1 to sample 6, which is attributed to its highest density among all samples. Compared to the other five samples, the results indicate that sample 6 with 2.0 mol % Nd2O3 is more likely to attenuate gamma and X-ray photons due to its lower tenth values of tenth value layer, half value layer, mean free path, and higher mass attenuation coefficient and effective atomic number. In the energy range of 0.08-15 MeV, the mass attenuation coefficient for sample 1 varies between 86.96 and 0.024 cm2/g, while the mass attenuation coefficient for sample 6 with the highest Nd concentration ranges between 104.66 and 0.026 cm2/g. We find that among all samples, sample 6 with 2.0 mol % Nd2O3 is more likely to attenuate the gamma and X-ray photons, i.e. the incorporation of Nd2O3 improves shielding properties, as indicated by the increase in linear and mass attenuation coefficients and effective atom number with increasing the Nd2O3 concentrations, while the half value layer, mean free path, and tenth value layer decrease with increasing Nd2O3 content. Therefore, the glass with composition 30Li2O + 10MgO + 5Gd2O3 + 53B2O3 + 2Nd2O3 turns out to be the most promising material among the studied glass samples for the X-ray and gamma-ray shielding.