ABSTRACT High density glass samples with a chemical formula of xBi 2 O 3 -30SiO 2 -10B 2 O 3 -20BaO-(40−x)ZnO (where x= 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 mol %) were prepared using the melt-quenching technique in order to design a new transparently shielding materials for many fields of applications. The amorphous state of the samples was examined using X-ray diffraction technique at room temperature. The effect of bismuth on the structural properties of the studied glasses was characterized through density and its derivative parameters. Before measuring the attenuation capability, the optical transparently for visible light were tested using the transmittance spectra measurements in the UV-Visible region. Optical parameters such as optical band gap, Urbach energy, and refractive index were evaluated from the optical data. The Gamma ray attenuation coefficients of the glass samples were performed at gamma ray energies 238.63, 338.28, 583.19, 911.20,  968.97, 1173.23, 1332.49, and 2614.51   Co radioactive sources. The transmitted gamma rays were detected using Hyper Pure Germanium detector (HPGe) under good geometry conditions. The Linear attenuation coefficients were deduced from the attenuation curves and then the mass attenuation coefficients and the half value layer were estimated. Theoretical mass attenuation coefficients were calculated using WinXCom program (version 3.1). A good correlation was observed between the experimentally determined and those computed theoretically of the mass attenuation coefficients

Aly Saeed

Kameesy C

S U El

Y H Elbashar

CiteSeerX

ISSN: 0975-8585 
July– August  2015  RJPBCS   6(4)  Page No. 1830 
Research Journal of Pharmaceutical, Biological and Chemical 
Sciences 
 
 
 
Study of Gamma Ray Attenuation of High-Density Bismuth Silicate Glass for 
Shielding Applications. 
 
Aly Saeeda, YH Elbasharb*, and SU El Kameesyc. 
 
a
Basic Science Department, Faculty of Engineering, Egyptian-Russian University-Cairo, Egypt. 
b
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Aswan University, Aswan, Egypt. 
c
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt. 
     
 
ABSTRACT 
 
High density glass samples with a chemical formula of xBi2O3-30SiO2–10B2O3–20BaO-(40−x)ZnO 
(where x= 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 mol %) were prepared using the melt-quenching technique in order to design a 
new transparently shielding materials for many fields of applications. The amorphous state of the samples was 
examined using X-ray diffraction technique at room temperature. The effect of bismuth on the structural 
properties of the studied glasses was characterized through density and its derivative parameters. Before 
measuring the attenuation capability, the optical transparently for visible light were tested using the 
transmittance spectra measurements in the UV-Visible region. Optical parameters such as optical band gap, 
Urbach energy, and refractive index were evaluated from the optical data. The Gamma ray attenuation 
coefficients of the glass samples were performed at gamma ray energies 238.63, 338.28, 583.19, 911.20, 
968.97, 1173.23, 1332.49, and 2614.51 keV that emitted from 
232
Th and 
60
Co radioactive sources. The 
transmitted gamma rays were detected using Hyper Pure Germanium detector (HPGe) under good geometry 
conditions. The Linear attenuation coefficients were deduced from the attenuation curves and then the mass 
attenuation coefficients and the half value layer were estimated. Theoretical mass attenuation coefficients 
were calculated using WinXCom program (version 3.1). A good correlation was observed between the 
experimentally determined and those computed theoretically of the mass attenuation coefficients.  
Keywords: Radiation shielding materials, optical transmittance, lead free glass. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
*Corresponding author 
 
ISSN: 0975-8585 
July– August  2015  RJPBCS   6(4)  Page No. 1831 
INTRODUCTION 
 
Nowadays, the increasing of glass researches due to their applications in photonics and nuclear. The 
idea of protective materials from nuclear radiation finds increasing interest due to the expansion of using the 
nuclear technology [1-7]. Glassy materials with the feature of transparency become the most notably materials 
in respect to their properties which modify their chemical composition by adding some modifiers or 
intersection to the glass network former [8, 9]. Additionally, the effects of irradiation on the optical, 
mechanical, and structural properties show an effect to the glass materials [10-12].  The properties of the 
glassy materials were extensively used as protective materials for multi-nuclear applications [13, 14]. The glass 
with a heavy metal oxide have several features such as, excellent transparency to visible light (exhibit high 
refractive index), high viscosity, low glass transition temperature, and high absorption cross-section for nuclear 
radiation [15-18]. Hence, the purpose of the present work is focused on developing lead free glass containing 
bismuth due to its high atomic number and hence, strong absorption of gamma rays. Additionally, the toxicity 
of bismuth and its biological effects were much less than lead [19]. 
 
EXPERIMENTAL 
 
Pure raw materials of SiO2, H3BO3, BaCO3, ZnO and Bi2O3 were used in powder form to prepare the 
glassy samples of chemical composition xBi2O3-30SiO2–10B2O3–20BaO-(40 − x) ZnO (where x= 0, 10, 20, 30, and 
40 mol %). The glass batches were grind and mixed using a mortar for 30 min to ensure the homogeneity. The 
melting process of samples was performed in an electric furnace at 1150 
0
C for 4hrs. The molten was stirred 
after 3 hrs each 10 min in order to achieve homogeneity. The molten was poured into stainless steel mould 
and the samples were immediately transferred to a muffle furnace regulated at 360 
O
C for annealing. After 4 
hrs of annealing, the glass samples were allowed to cool after furnace switched off. Finally, samples of cubic 
shape with dimensions 3x3 cm and different thicknesses were polished using a polishing machine. The 
amorphous nature of the samples was examined by X-ray diffraction analysis at room temperature using CuKa 
radiation at λ=1.54 A
o
 (scintag, advanced diffraction system) with nickel filter, over 2θ range of 3-7 degree. At 
room temperature the density of the samples was determined by Archimedes principle [20]. The physical 
properties such as, molar volume, bismuth ion concentration, interionic distance, polaron radius, field 
strength, and oxygen packing density were evaluated based on the obtained results of density using the 
standard formulae [20-24].  
 
Optical absorption spectra of these glass samples were recorded using UV-Visible spectrophotometer 
in the wavelength region 190-1100 nm at nominal incidence. The optical parameters such as, optical band gap, 
Urbach energy, and refractive index were deduced from the optical absorption data. The gamma ray shielding 
parameters of the prepared glassy barriers were obtained for eight energy lines, emitted from 
232
Th and 
60
Co 
point sources, using narrow beam of gamma rays. The diagram of the geometry was shown in Figure (1). The 
experimental arrangement consists of Hyper Pure Germanium detector (HPGe) with relative efficiency ≈30% 
relative to a 3"× 3" NaI (Ti) detector, active volume 62.3 cm
3
 and energy resolution 1.8 keV at 1.33 MeV γ-lines. 
The detector was coupled through an amplifier to the computer with MCA plug-in card. Because of the 
sensitivity of HPGe detector, it is usual to shield them from the environment. Therefore, lead shield of 
thickness 5 cm was used in this study. 
 
 
 
Figure 1: Experimental setup of narrow beam transmission method. 
 
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 
 
 No diffraction peaks were observed in X-ray diffraction patterns of the prepared samples Figure (2) which 
indicates the amorphous nature of the prepared materials.  
ISSN: 0975-8585 
July– August  2015  RJPBCS   6(4)  Page No. 1832 
 
Figure 2: X-ray diffraction patterns of the studied samples 
 
 Figure (3) shows the behavior of density and molar volume versus bismuth ion concentration. The 
substituted of ZnO by Bi2O3 leads to increase the density of glasses due to the high molecular weight of Bi2O3 in 
a comparison to ZnO. In the same context, the increasing of molar volume was attributed to creation of non-
bridging oxygen in the glass network. The formation of non-bridging oxygen may flayer-up the glass network 
and this increases its molar volume. 
 
 
Figure 3: Density and molar volume of the studied samples 
 
The better insight, density and molar volume results have been employed to calculate many structural 
parameters, such as bismuth ion concentration, interionic distance, polaron radius, field strength, oxygen 
packing density, and number of boned per unit volume, to describe the influence of bismuth ion on the 
structural units and transport properties of the glasses Table (1).  
 
Table 1: Optical and structural parameters of the studied glasses 
 
 Bi=0% Bi=10% Bi=20% Bi=30% Bi=40% 
NBi ×10
23
(ions/cm
3
) 0 2.041 3.492 4.489 5.341 
𝒓𝒊 (Å) 0 1.698 1.420 1.306 1.233 
𝒓𝒑 (Å) 0 0.6084 0.5072 0.5026 0.4097 
OPD(g-atom/liter) 65 57 55 52 50 
VO (cm
3
/mol) 15.355 17.355 18.154 19.168 19.614 
F×10
16
 (cm
-2
) 0 2.080 2.975 3.518 3.950 
𝒏𝒃 (cm
-3
) 8.891 7.348 6.635 5.985 5.608 
Eg (eV) 3.83 3.58 3.49 3.44 3.3 
∆𝑬 (eV) 0.286 0.294 0.303 0.339 0.383 
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
In
te
n
si
ty
 (
A
. 
u
.)
 
2θo (degree)  
Bi = 0 % Bi = 10 % Bi = 20 % Bi = 30 % Bi = 40 %
20
30
40
50
3
4
5
6
0 10 20 30 40 50
M
o
la
r 
V
o
lu
m
e
 (
cm
3
/m
o
l)
 
D
e
n
si
ty
 (
 g
m
/C
m
3 )
 
Bi2O3 Concentraion (mol. %) 
Density
Molar Volume
ISSN: 0975-8585 
July– August  2015  RJPBCS   6(4)  Page No. 1833 
The polaron radius (𝒓𝒑)  and interionic distance (𝒓𝒊)  decrease with the increase of bismuth oxide 
concentration which confirms the increases in bismuth ion concentration (NBi). This behavior indicates that the 
Bi atoms close to each other which confirm the observed increasing in density. The oxygen molar volume (𝑽𝒐)  
and oxygen packing density (OPD) values show opposite trend to each other which confirm that the glass 
structure becomes loosely packed. The increase of field strength attributed to the high field strength of Bi
3+
 in 
a compare with ZnO. The decrease in the number of bonds per unit volume is attributed to the decrease in the 
compactness of the glass network structure confirming the formation of non-bridging oxygen. 
 
The transmitted spectra of the investigated glasses were shown in Figure (4). An irregular pattern of 
optical transmitted spectra was observed with increases of the bismuth concentration. The transmission 
spectra of the studied glass show that the position of fundamental absorption edge shifts to longer wavelength 
with Bi2O3. The variation in optical transmittance spectra and the red shift attributed to the formation of non-
bridging oxygen in the glass network.       
 
 
 
Figure 4: Optical transmission spectra of the studied samples 
 
 
 
Figure 5: optical band gap                                           Figure 6: Urbach enrgy 
 
The optical band gap energy for direct transition is determined using the plot (𝛼ℎ𝜈)2 versus energy 
(ℎ𝜈) as shown in Figure (5). From the linear extrapolation to zero ordinate the values of 𝐸𝑔 was calculated [17-
0
200
400
600
800
3 3.3 3.6 3.9 4.2 4.5
(α
h
ν)
2
 
hν 
Bi = 0 % Bi = 10 % Bi =20 %
Bi = 30 % Bi = 40 %
0.5
1.5
2.5
2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
ln
α
 
hν 
Bi = 0 % Bi = 10 % Bi =20 %
Bi = 30 % Bi = 40 %
ISSN: 0975-8585 
July– August  2015  RJPBCS   6(4)  Page No. 1834 
19]. Urbach energy (∆E) obtained from the slope reciprocal of the graph of absorption coefficient logarithm 
(ln 𝛼) versus the photon energy (ℎ𝜈) [17-19] as shown in Figure (6). The obtained results of optical band gap 
and Urbach energy are listed in Table (1). It is found that the optical band gap energy decreases and the 
Urbach energy increases with the increase of bismuth ion concentration. The observed behavior of direct 
optical band gap can be attributed to the increase in non-bridging oxygen with the increase in bismuth 
content. The decrease in Eopt values and increase in Urbach energies confirm the increase of disorder in the 
glass network, and consequently the extension of the localized states within the band gap. 
 
Refractive index based on the optical band gap was estimated, to confirm the transparently of the 
prepared glasses, with according following relation [17-21].  
 
𝑛2 − 1
𝑛2 + 1
= 1 − √
𝐸𝑔
20
⁄                   (1) 
 
The refractive index values for the studied glasses, as shown in Figure (7), increase with bismuth oxide 
increase. This behavior is due to the ion Bi
3+
 which has a high polarity that can break the bridging oxygen in 
glass network to non-bridging oxygen [NBO]. Non-bridging oxygen has an effect on the refractive index 
because of the high polarity of non-bridging oxygen (NBO) than the bridging oxygen. 
 
 
 
Figure 7: Refractive index of the present glasses 
 
The values of linear attenuation coefficients (µ) were plotted versus bismuth concentration (Bi %) and 
the energy lines of γ-rays as shown in Figures (8 and 9). The linear attenuation coefficient of all glass barriers 
increase linearly with increasing Bi concentration, and it is also observed that the linear attenuation coefficient 
are inversely proportional to energy. The observed behavior of linear attenuation coefficients attributed to the 
higher molecular weight of bismuth as well as, the mechanism of gamma ray interaction with the materials. 
 
 
Figure 8: Linear attenuation coefficients of γ-rays emitted from 
232
Th source 
ISSN: 0975-8585 
July– August  2015  RJPBCS   6(4)  Page No. 1835 
 
 
Figure 9:  Linear attenuation coefficients of γ-raysemitted from 
60
Co source 
                        .                                                 
 The experimental and theoretical results of mass attenuation coefficients (µexp  𝑎𝑛𝑑 µth ) as a 
function of gamma ray energies, were investigated for the glassy barriers as shown in Figure (10). Two 
different regions were observed in the behavior of mass attenuation coefficients. The energy range from 
238.63 keV up to 583.19 keV a sharp decrease of mass attenuation coefficients was observed because of the 
dominant reaction between the investigated glass barriers and gamma rays was attributed to the photoelectric 
effect. A slight decrease of mass attenuation coefficients is observed from 911.2 keV up to 2614.51 keV which 
was attributed to the Compton scattering process. Additionally, Figure (10) show a good agreement between 
the experimental and the theoretical predictions. 
 
 
 
 
 
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0 1000 2000 3000
M
as
s 
at
te
n
u
at
io
n
 c
o
e
ff
. 
(c
m
2 /
gm
) 
Photon energy (keV) 
Bi = 0 % 
µm(Exp)
µm(Theo)
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0 1000 2000 3000
M
as
s 
at
te
n
u
at
io
n
 c
o
e
ff
. 
(c
m
2
/g
m
) 
Photon energy (keV) 
Bi = 10 % 
µm(Exp)
µm(Theo)
ISSN: 0975-8585 
July– August  2015  RJPBCS   6(4)  Page No. 1836 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 10: Mass attenuation coefficients of glassy samples as a function of gamma ray energies. 
 
Table 2: Half value layer (HVL) for the investigated glass barriers 
 
γ- Energy 
(keV) 
 
0 % (Bi) 
 
10 % (Bi) 
HVL 
20 % (Bi) 
 
30 % (Bi) 
 
40 % (Bi) (
𝑯𝑽𝑳𝟎% − 𝑯𝑽𝑳𝟒𝟎%
𝑯𝑽𝑳𝟎%
) ∗ 𝟏𝟎𝟎 
238.63 1.583 0.837 0.656 0.523 0.441 72.226 
338.28 1.654 1.328 1.142 0.866 0.733 55.661 
583.19 2.166 1.964 1.716 1.530 1.389 35.871 
911.20 2.718 2.295 2.094 2.009 1.810 33.420 
968.97 2.888 2.358 2.194 1.942 1.889 34.604 
1173.23 3.136 2.876 2.530 2.318 2.181 30.503 
1332.49 3.180 2.795 2.636 2.424 2.334 26.599 
2614.51 4.814 4.151 3.747 3.591 3.194 33.640 
 
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
M
as
s 
at
te
n
u
at
io
n
 c
o
e
ff
. 
(c
m
2 /
gm
) 
Phoron energy (keV) 
Bi = 20 % 
µm(Exp)
µm(Theo)
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
M
as
s 
at
te
n
u
at
io
n
 c
o
e
ff
. 
(c
m
2
/g
m
) 
Photon energy (keV) 
Bi = 30 % 
µm(Exp)
µm(Theo)
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0 1000 2000 3000
M
as
s 
at
te
n
u
at
io
n
 c
o
e
ff
. 
(c
m
2
/g
m
) 
Photon energy (keV) 
Bi = 40 % 
µm(Exp)
µm(Theo)
ISSN: 0975-8585 
July– August  2015  RJPBCS   6(4)  Page No. 1837 
 The values of the half value layer for the present glassy barriers were deduced and listed in Table 
(2). The decrease of half value layers, with the bismuth concentration increase, indicates the improvement of 
shielding properties for the present glasses. 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
  Attenuation coefficients of xBi2O3–30SiO2–10B2O3–20BaO–(40–x) ZnO glass system have been 
measured using collimated gamma ray transmission method. The results show a clear improvement in 
shielding parameters by increasing Bi2O3 concentration up to 40%. The optical transmission spectra have been 
studied and analyzed. The band gap value decreases and the refractive index increase with the incorporation 
of Bi2O3. It may be attributed to the compaction of glass structure and formation of non-bridging oxygen. The 
influence of Bi2O3 on the glass structure was studied using density, molar volume, bismuth ion concentration, 
and oxygen packing density. The structural properties of these glasses confirm the creation of non-bridging 
oxygen in the glass network.  Moreover, the present study shows that the bismuth borosilicate glass for 
gamma ray shielding material is suitable, and promising transparently radiation protecting materials which 
have a wide range of applications. 
 
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Study of Gamma Ray Attenuation of High-Density Bismuth Silicate Glass for Shielding Applications

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Study of Gamma Ray Attenuation of High-Density Bismuth Silicate Glass for Shielding Applications

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