The role of cadmium oxides in the enhancement of radiation shielding capacities for alkali borate glasses

Abstract The radiation shielding capacity of 80B2O3–(20-x) Na2O–x CdO (where x = 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 mol%) cadmium-doped sodium borate glasses was evaluated. The linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) of the studied glasses was simulated using the Monte Carlo simulation code (MCNP-5) for gamma photons with energy between 0.01 and 15 MeV. Other pivotal gamma ray shielding parameters such as mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), half value layer (HVL), effective atomic number (Zeff), and buildup factors (EBF and EABF) for cadmium-doped sodium borate glasses were examined. The achieved data showed that, BNC 8 glasses with CdO contents 14 mol % possess the highest LAC and varied between 0.0650 and 83.636 cm-1 and also it have thinner HVL than other BNC glasses and varied between 0.008 and 10.686 cm for gamma ray energy between 0.01 and 15 MeV. Moreover, the removal cross sections of fast neutrons (ΣR) were also calculated theoretically for cadmium-doped sodium borate glasses. The obtained data shows that the insertion of CdO appears to enhance gamma ray and neutron shielding capacity. BNC8 with CdO content (14 mol%) was found to possess the best shielding parameters among the studied cadmium-doped sodium borate glasses.