Structural, thermal, and mechanical investigation of telluro-borate-Bismuth glass for radiation shielding

Abstract

The radiation shielding properties of telluro-borate glasses have a great importance in nuclear industry. This work focused on the study of the glasses of the (70-x)B2O3–5TeO2–20SrO–5ZnO-xBi2O3 (with 0 ≤ x ≤ 15% mol%) system, which have been synthesized by the melt-quenching route. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis showed no agglomeration on glassy surfaces, which confirmed the amorphous state. The thermal differential analysis (DTA) showed that the glass transition temperature (Tg) decreased from 589.90 °C to 529.51 °C with replacing B2O3 mol% by Bi2O3 mol%. The mechanical properties of these glasses have been evaluated by investigation of the parameters, such as the bulk modulus (K), the Young's modulus (E), the shear modulus (S), the longitudinal modulus (L), and the Poisson coefficient, which are changed by Bi2O3 doping. The radiation shielding properties of these prepared glasses have been evaluated, and we reported the effective atomic number (Zeff) at 0.511 MeV. The results showed that the glass with x = 15% has the highest Zeff. We found that the Zeff is almost doubled when the concentration of Bi2O3 is increased from 0 mol% to 15 mol%. The findings provide a deeper understanding of the thermal, mechanical, and shielding properties of glass and have potential applications in areas such as construction and radiation protection.