Nuclear Engineering and Technology (Jun 2024)
A close look at the influence of praseodymium (III) oxide on the structural, physical, and γ-ray protection capacity of a ternary B2O3–PbO–CdO glass system
Abstract
The present investigation aims to study the role of Pr2O3 on the structural, physical, and radiation shielding properties of a dense cadmium lead borate glass. The XRD was used to affirm the glassy amorphous structure of fabricated sample materials. Moreover, the FTIR was used to record the change in the FT-IR spectra due to the addition of Pr2O3 in the wavenumber interval between 400 and 4000 cm−1. The features of glass surfaces and the elemental analyses for the synthesized Pr2O3-reinforced cadmium lead borate glasses were performed using a SEM, supported by an energy-dispersive spectrometer. The γ-ray protection capacity was evaluated using the Monte Carlo method in a wide energy interval ranging between 0.015 and 15 MeV. The linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) at 1 MeV was reduced by a factor of 10 % from 0.372 cm−1 to 0.340 cm−1. The decrease in the LAC values negatively affected the other shielding properties such as half-value thickness and the transmission factor. Although the linear attenuation coefficient is decreased slightly with the partial substitution of CdO by Pr2O3 compound, the fabricated glass samples still have a high shielding capacity compared to the traditional commercial glasses as well as previous similar reported glasses.
