Glass and Glass-Ceramics Based on Weathered Basaltic Rock for Radiation Shielding Applications

Different batches of weathered basalt ranging from 100 to 50 %, in combination with by-pass cement dust, were used to prepare the glass compositions. Different techniques utilized such as differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction, density, FTIR, the mass attenuation coefficients, appropriate atomic number (Zeff), and effective electron density (Neff), were examined for the prepared glass and glass-ceramics samples at different photon energies. In the present study, it was revealed that as the molar volume decreases, the density increases. The experimental and theoretical effects of the mass attenuation component were mostly consistent at different energies. The results revealed that glass samples (WB100) containing a higher percentage of basaltic rocks demonstrated higher radiation protection than those with lower rate (WB50). In addition, glass-ceramics displayed enhanced radiation and gamma rays protection than glass. Therefore, we recommend using glass- ceramics containing 100 % basalt as a protective shield against gamma rays with a lower thickness and higher protection.