Exploring the Impact of TiO2 Variations on the Gamma-Ray Shielding Properties of Bi2O3-ZnO-Pb3O4-Al2O3 Glass

In this study, we employed the MCNP Monte Carlo (MC) code to assess the gamma-ray shielding properties of a glass system with a specific composition. The glass composition consisted of (55-x) Bi2O3-15Pb3O4-20Al2O3-10ZnO-xTiO2, where x varied (x=0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 mol percent) to represent different concentrations of TiO2. Various parameters related to photon attenuation, including Half-Value Layer (HVL), Tenth-Value Layer (TVL), mean free path (MFP), mass attenuation coefficient (□m), and buildup factor (BF), were examined across energy levels ranging from 0.1 to 1.5 MeV using the MCNP Monte Carlo code. To validate the simulation results, we compared them with experimental data from the XCOM database. Our analysis revealed a strong correlation between the NIST-XCOM database and the simulation results, with the percentage deviation (PD) for □m calculations mostly below 0.59%. The average difference between MCNP and XCOM data in terms of Z
eff
was 1% and 4%. Our results suggest that the novel glass composition demonstrates superior attenuation properties compared to conventional shielding materials like concrete and lead. Particularly, the glass variant with the lowest TiO2 content exhibited the most favorable density among the materials studied. The consistent agreement between the □m results and the XCOM database highlights the reliability and effectiveness of the MC modeling technique utilized in this investigation.