Optimising the physical, thermal, optical, and gamma-ray shielding features of B2O3–As2O3–Li2O–PbO glasses

Abstract

The melt-quench method was used to create a borate glass system with the following structure: 60B2O3–10As2O3–(30 - x)Li2O–xPbO. The influence of increasing the composition of PbO from 5 ? x ? 25 mol% on the physical, optical, as well as gamma radiation shielding attributes was investigated. The structural indices including several important factors such as molar volume Vm and OPD were estimated theoretically. The temperature behaviour of the glasses was scrutinised through modulated differential scanning calorimetry. Gamma radiation shielding data for photons between 15 keV and 15 MeV were obtained using PHITS simulations and the Phy-X free online database. The value of the glass density increased from 3.709 to 5.68 g/cc as the PbO content increased from 5 to 25 mol%. The Vm and OPD changed from 41.272 to 27.852 cc/mol and 76.322–91.556 g-atom/l, respectively, as Li2O increased from 5 to 25%. Other physical parameters changed with respect to the chemical features of the glasses. The glass transition temperature increased in a nearly linear trend with the PbO content. Gamma-ray interaction parameters obtained with PHITS simulations and Phy-X agree well with 3.64%. The MAC and other related parameters showed that there was a remarkable increase in the shielding ability of the glasses when the PbO content is altered. The investigated glasses showed superior shielding aptitude compared to standard radiation shields. The prepared glasses are good for radiation shielding and optical applications. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.