Optical and gamma-ray shielding effectiveness of a newly fabricated P2O5–CaO–Na2O–K2O–PbO glass system

Abstract The glasses of composition of 40 P2O5 - 20 CaO- (30-x) Na2O - 10 K2O – x PbO and (x = 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 mol%) (coded as PbP1, PbP2, PbP3, PbP4 and PbP5 for x = 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 mol% respectively) were prepared. The physical properties and the optical properties have been studied and found to be affected due to the incorporation of the PbO. Also, FLUKA code was used for the investigation of the linear attenuation coefficients (LAC) for the PbP glass system and to report the role of Na2O and PbO on the radiation shielding parameters. The simulation was performed between 0.637 and 2.506 MeV. At 0.637 MeV, PbP1's LAC is equal to 0.181 cm−1 and PbP5's LAC is equal to 0.337 cm−1, while at 2.506 MeV, their LAC values are 0.092 cm−1 and 4.538 cm−1, respectively. At any energy, the LAC follows the order of PbP1