Gamma-ray/neutron shielding capacity and elastic moduli of MnO-K2O-B2O3 glasses co-doped with Er3+ ions

Abstract

Gamma-ray/neutron shielding capacity and mechanical properties of erbium-doped potassium manganese borate glasses with the chemical form of (1 - x)MnO-29K(2)O-70B(2)O(3)-xEr(2)O(3): x = 0-1 mol% coded as E-0-E-5 via bond compression model, XCOM software, and PHITS simulations have been investigated. The bulk modulus (K-B.C) values increased from 90.19 for E-0 glass sample with free Er2O3 to 101.24 GPa for E-5 glass sample with Er2O3 = 1 mol%. The Young's modulus (E-B.C) increased from 102.68 GPa to 115.38 GPa, while the longitudinal modulus (L-B.C) increased from 142.31 GPa to 159.81 GPa for E-0-E-5 glasses. Poisson's ratio (sigma(B.C)) decreased from 0.310261 to 0.310065 with the increase of Er3+ ions in the investigated glasses. Hardness of E-0-E-5 glasses was increased from 4.96 GPa to 5.58 GPa. The mass attenuation coefficient (mu/rho) values were the highest at the least energy of 0.284 MeV with values of 0.1080, 0.1096, 0.1113, 0.1129, 0.1145, and 0.1161 cm(2) g(-1) for E-0, E-1, E-2, E-3, E-4, and E-5, respectively. Moreover, radiation protection efficiency (RPE) of the E-0-E-5 glasses was estimated using PHITS simulation code. The highest RPE was observed for E-5 glass with a thickness of 5 cm. Finally, the neutron shielding capacity of E-0-E-5 glasses was evaluated in terms of the fast neutron removal cross section (FNRCS). The values of FNRCS increased by adding Er2O3 content and a sharp increase was observed at xEr(2)O(3): x = 0.8 mol%. Generally, one can conclude that the E-5 glass sample with the highest Er2O3 (1 mol%) concentration is the best sample as radiation shield among all the studied glasses.