Synthesis and characterization of lead borate glasses comprising cement kiln dust and Bi2O3 for radiation shielding protection

The low cost and high efficient radiation shielding materials are necessary to protect the human being from the exceedingly used harmful nuclear radiations. The cement kiln dust (CKD) is the largest waste stream from cement plants that harm the environment. In this study, new glasses containing moderate contents of CKD for radiation shielding had been synthesized by the melt quenching technique. The synthesized glasses had the chemical formula (25−x)PbO–32CKD–40B2O3–3BaO– xBi2O3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 25 mol%). NaI (Tl) scintillation detector and pulse-echo techniques were used to investigate the radiation shielding and the mechanical features of the investigated samples. The mass attenuation coefficient (μm), half-value layer (HVL), tenth value layer (TVL), mean free path (mfp), radiation protection efficiency (RPE), effective atomic number (Zeff) and effective electron density (Nel) parameters for glass samples have been determined experimentally. The G-P fitting method was used to calculate the exposure (EBF) and energy absorption buildup factor (EABF) for the prepared glass samples in the photon energy range of 0.015–15 MeV up to 40 mfp. The specific absorbed fraction of the energy (SAFE), the relative dose distribution (RDD) and the neutron shielding parameters have been computed. Moreover, the elastic moduli of the investigated glasses were determined by considering the measured values of the ultrasonic velocities at 5 MHz and the density. The investigated glasses are considered as a promising candidate for radiation application. •Effect of moderate contenets of CKD.•Adding Bi2O3 and BaO cause to increase the radiation shielding parameters.•Adding Bi2O3 causes to increase the density and the elastic moduli.•The results showed good agreement between experimental and theoretical values.