Broad and Narrow Photon Transmission and Energy Absorption Parameters of SiO₂-Al₂O₃-Na₂O-NaF-YF₃ Silicate Glasses

This study highlights the influence of replacing Na₂O with NaF on the photon interaction parameters of 40SiO₂-20Al₂O₃-(10 + x)Na₂O-(20-x)NaF-10YF₃ (for x = 0, 2, 5, 7, 10). The mass attenuation coefficients (MACs) and mass energy absorption coefficients (MEACs) of the glass ceramics were computed for gamma-rays in the 15 keV-15MeV energy range using the NIST-XCOM database. The MAC and MAEC vary within the ranges of 0.0224–10.1508 cm²/g and 0.0156–6.4896 cm²/g for Si-ANNYF1, 0.0223–9.8821 cm²/g and 0.0164–6.3694 cm²/g for Si-ANNYF2, 0.0222–9.6097 cm²/g and 0.0163–6.2508 cm²/g for Si-ANNYF3, 0.0221–9.3724 cm²/g and 0.0163–5.5476 cm²/g for Si-ANNYF4, and 0.0220–9.1310 cm²/g and 0.0162–5.4131 cm²/g for Si-ANNYF5. The analysis of other estimated parameters showed that increasing the relative weight proportion of NaF₂ relative to Na₂O influenced the ability of the glass ceramics to interact and absorb energy from incident gamma photons. Adding more NaF made the glass ceramics better at confining photons in both the narrow and broad beams scenarios. The Si-ANNYFx glass ceramics are recommended for gamma shielding applications in nuclear industries.