Impacts of BaO additions on structure, linear/nonlinear optical properties and radiation shielding competence of BaO–NiO–ZnO–B2O3 glasses

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to study the structure, optical and radiation shielding effectiveness of radiation shielding glasses based on the formula [x BaO–(80-X) B2O3– 1NiO–11ZnO]; x = 8, 16, 24 and 32 mol%] have been obtained from melt quenching method. The density was increased from 2.861 (± 0.001) g.cm−3 to 3.119 (± 0.001) g.cm−3 due to an effective concentration of BaO. Furthermore, the vibrational investigations confirmed the conversion from trigonally-coordinated boron units (B O3) to tetrahedrally-coordinated boron units (B O4) with progressive enhancement in tetrahedrally-coordinated boron ratio (N4), besides a significant deterioration in non-bridging oxygen units (NBOs) inside the glass network due to the further concentrations of BaO. Optical studies showed the increase in optical band gaps from 3.22 (± 0.01) eV to 3.40 (± 0.01) eV with further concentrations of BaO from 8 to 32 mol%. This increment was attributed to the reduced NBO concentrations inside the glass network. Moreover, the nonlinear optical parameters showed decreased values due to the effective addition of BaO. Furthermore, the radiation shielding studies showed that the addition of BaO to the present glasses is an effective way to improve their radiation shielding performance. Additionally, to better understand the radiation protection provided by these glasses, a comparison of their half-value layers (HVL) with those of previously reported glasses was carried out at 0.662 MeV of photon energies. This comparison confirmed the improved radiation shielding performance of the present glass system.