BaO–reinforced SiO2–Na2O–Ca(O/F2)–Al2O3 glasses for radiation safety: On the physical, optical, structural and radiation shielding properties

Abstract

This paper reports on a study aimed at investigating the physical properties and radiation shielding capability of a low-cost, high-transparency silicate glassy system reinforced with barium oxide. The prepared glasses' elementary and modified network structures were analyzed using X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy, confirming their glass nature and revealing the progressive network depolymerization with BaO inclusion. Differential scanning calorimetry was employed to determine the glass transition temperature, which showed an increase with increasing BaO content. Tauc's plot was used to study the direct optical bandgap, which was observed to increase from 3.91 to 4.75 eV with BaO content from 0 to 30 mol%, linked to an increase in the average oxygen bond chain length and non-bridging oxygen atoms' creation. The density, molar volume, and oxygen packing density of the glass were found to increase with BaO addition, indicating that barium oxide promotes the formation of a compact network structure collapsing into a closely packed arrangement. At an X-ray energy of 40 keV, the mass attenuation coefficient increased from 0.67 to 11.48 cm2/g with BaO content. To assess the efficacy of theoretical calculations, we have conducted an experimental setup to measure the linear attenuation coefficient using an 241Am (59.5 keV) radiation source. Finally, the gamma shielding effectiveness was evaluated, and the sample containing 30 mol% of BaO showed superior radiation protection compared to concrete and was comparable to RS360 commercial glass.