Elucidating the effect of La2O3–B2O3 exchange on structure, optical and radiation shielding improvements of Na2O–NiO–B2O3 glass

Abstract

In this work, borate glass systems containing lanthanum oxide (La2O3), nickel oxide (NiO), and sodium oxide (Na2O) were prepared using the melt quenching technique by changing the La2O3/B2O3 contents. Furthermore, the structural, optical, and radiation shielding characteristics of these glasses were investigated. Optical transmittance was measured to show that all glass samples have good transparency in the visible range. Structurally, with increasing La2O3/B2O3 contents, the density increases (from 2.226 to 3.184 g.cm−3), the molar volume decreases, and the average bond density increases. Furthermore, with increasing La2O3/B2O3 contents, the refractive index and optical basicity shift toward higher values while the electronegativity decreases. On the other hand, the radiation shielding properties, such as mass attenuation coefficient and half value layer, show enhanced behaviors with further La2O3 additions. Further, we found that the HVL of the highest La2O3-containing glass samples is smaller than all commonly used radiation shielding materials. Finally, the combination of enhanced radiation shielding properties and good transparency makes the current glasses good candidates in the radiation shielding field.