Comprehensive study on the structural, optical, physical and gamma photon shielding features of B2O3-Bi2O3-PbO-TiO2 glasses using WinXCOM and Geant4 code

Glass samples of titanium-lead bismuth borate with the composition of (60B2O3 – 20Bi2O3 – (20-x)PbO – xTiO2), where 0 ≤ x ≤ 10 wt% labeled as BBPT0.0 (x = 0) to BBPT10.0 (x = 10) were synthesized. The melt quenching technique was used in the preparation. The amorphous character and vibrational groups for all samples were confirmed through XRD and FTIR measurements, respectively. The optical band gap (Eopt), Urbach's energy (Eurbach), and the optical dispersion constants have been determined using UV–Vis spectra. Results reveal that the values of the optical band gap energy exhibit a decrease with the TiO2 concentration, in contrast with Urbach's energy which displays a linear increase from 0.43 to 0.64 eV. In addition, the values of single-oscillator energy (Eo) has the same behavior of the optical energy gap (Eopt), while the dispersion energy parameter (Ed) has an inversely behavior. Mass attenuation coefficients (μ/ρ) of the investigated glasses have been computed using the Geant4 simulation toolkit and WinXCOM database software. Geant4 model of a HPGe detector has been employed to perform the Monte Carlo simulations for the glass samples with five thicknesses from 1 to 3 cm at the gamma ray energies in the range of 356–2510 keV. The transmission fractions as a function of the thickness at 356 keV photon energy for all studied glasses has been performed. Half value layer (HVL) was derived from the μ/ρ values. Results showed the studied glasses have good shielding capability according to their mass attenuation coefficients, transmission fractions and HVL values.