Improved radiation shielding efficiency and optical properties of borate glass by incorporating dysprosium(III) oxide

Abstract

The present investigation used the melt-quench method to produce four distinct glass systems using boron-Dy2O3 glass. The glass system consisting of B2O3, BaO, ZnO, and Li2O was augmented with Dysprosium(III) Oxide. A series of borate glasses with the chemical formula (62-x)B2O3-18BaO-10ZnO-10Li2O-xDy2O3 where x=0, 1, 2, 3 mol%. The experimental investigation of Dy2O3 as additives was conducted, with a specific emphasis on their optical characteristics. Also, the addition of Dy2O3 causes the intensity of absorption to increase. Moreover, because of changes in the glass network and modifier, the absorption edge moved to a higher wavelength as the concentration of Dy3+ ions increased, from 345.46 nm for Dy–0–367.48 nm for Dy–3. This study examined glasses with different compositions to evaluate their effectiveness in shielding γ-rays. The Phy-X/PDS and FULKA Code were utilised for this investigation. A comparison analysis was performed on the obtained results. The effective atomic number and other parameters, such as linear attenuation coefficient and half value layer, were calculated within the energy range of 0.015–15 MeV. The study revealed that the Dy-0 has the lowest linear attenuation coefficient compared to the other samples analysed. The glasses Dy-0 and Dy-3 showed half-values of 0.044 and 0.039 cm, respectively, when exposed to 0.05 MeV. The increase in effective atomic number was attributed to a higher quantity of electrons that are accessible for photon interaction. This, in turn, resulted in a reduced probability of γ-ray passage through the shielding material. According to the findings of the gamma radiation shielding experiment, the sample that had the largest amount of Dy2O3 exhibited the most effective shielding qualities, making it an excellent candidate for use in radiation shielding applications.