Gamma-ray attenuation competences and optical characterization of MgO–MoO3–TeO2–BaO glasses

Abstract

The kinetic, optical features, and gamma-ray shielding competence of 0.8 [xBaO (1 − x)MgO]·0.2MoO3·2TeO2:x = 0,0.3, 0.5, 0.7, and 1 mol% named as M1–M5 have been investigated. The highest value of the optical electronegativity (χ*) was achieved for the M4 glass sample, while the lowest was achieved for the M5 sample. The nonlinear refractive index $$\left( {n_{2}^{{{\text{optical}}}} } \right)$$ and nonlinear optical susceptibility (χ3) followed the same trend. The values of the bulk modulus (KB−C) decreased from 144.52 GPa for the M1 glass to 79.14 GPa for the M5 glass with increasing the BaO content. The longitudinal modulus (LB−C) decreased from 289.61 to 158.58 GPa and the Young’s modulus (EB−C) decreased from 261.74 to 143.17 GPa for M1–M5 glasses. Poisson’s ratio (σB−C) for all glasses (M1–M5) has a constant value (0.198) as the average cross-link density ( $$\overline{n}_{{\text{c}}}$$ ) for all glasses is constant. The transmission factor (TF) of M1–M5 glasses decreases significantly as the mol% of BaO increases. The half value thickness (HVT) follows the trend of (M1)HVT > (M2)HVT > (M3)HVT > (M4)HVT > (M5)HVT. The effective atomic number (Zeff) follows the trend of (M1)Zeff < (M2)Zeff < (M3)Zeff < (M4)Zeff < (M5)Zeff. This observation comes from the fact that BaO has a greater atomic number than MgO, so that as the concentration of BaO increases in the glasses, the Zeff of the glasses increases as well. Generally, since a lower TF means a greater attenuating ability, it can be determined that the M5 glass has the better shielding ability and that the greater BaO content leads to greater attenuation in the investigated glass system.