Physical, structural, mechanical and radiation shielding features of waste pharmaceutical glasses doped with Bi2O3

Abstract

In the present work, by utilizing waste pharmaceutical glass (PG) within the attempt of gaining a value-added product for radiation shielding applications, a new glass system was fabricated with the nominal composition of x Bi2O3 - (100-x)PG (x: 0, 5, 15, 25, and 35 wt%). Conventional melt quenching technique ensured to synthesize five different glass samples, namely Bi0, Bi5, Bi15, Bi25, and Bi35. For understanding the role of Bi2O3 in the PG system, we implemented several characterization analyses, including physical, structural, mechanical, and radiation shielding properties. According to the findings, the density of the glasses varied between 2.5344 and 3.4492 +/- 0.001 g.cm(-3) for Bi0 to Bi35. On the other hand, the X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique confirmed the non-crystalline structure without any sharp peak existence. The mechanical parameter of the glases decreased with the increasing in Bi2O3 content in the glass composition. Radiation shielding competencies were determined experimentally with gamma transmission measurements with the energy range of 53-3.83 keV. The results were checked with generated outcomes with EpiXS program and MCNPX codes. The Bi35 sample with doped 35 wt% of Bi2O3 owns the lowest of HVL, MFP, EABF, and EBF values and highest MACs and Zeffs, which are desired for a shielding material, among the produced glasses. It is concluded from the outcomes obtained that the addition of Bi2O3 significantly increased the photon shielding ability of PG glasses.