Influence of WO3 on gamma radiation shielding efficiency, physical and optical properties of newly developed Li2O – CaO – Bi2O3 – B2O3 glasses

Abstract

Five different lithium calcium bismuth boro-tungstate glasses with nominal composition xWO3 – (30–x) Bi2O3 – 15Li2O – 15CaO – 40 B2O3: (W1 (x = 0) – W5 (x = 10) mol) % were synthesized by conventional quenching method from pure oxides. XRD profiles have further revealed their amorphous nature. Physical, optical properties and photon attenuation competence have been investigated. The variation in the density values (ρ), molar volume (Vm), oxygen molar volume (Vo) and oxygen packing density (OPD) showed the influence of WO3 on glass structure. The various optical properties such as optical band gap (Eopt), refractive index (n), molar refraction (Rm), cationic polarizability (αM) and optical basicity (∧) were calculated and are discussed in terms of structural changes. Under Bi2O3/WO3 replacement, the optical band gap was observed to reduce using the absorbance spectrum. The indirect optical energy gap was varied from 2.70 to 2.44 eV, while the direct one varied from 2.95 to 2.79 eV, respectively. Mass attenuation coefficients (MAC) values of the prepared glasses were analyzed using the Phy-X/PSD program. In the terms of mass and linear attenuation coefficients and effective atomic number (MAC, LAC, and Zeff), these two photon shielding parameters parameter follow the trend as: (W1)(MAC, LAC, Zeff) > (W2) (MAC, LAC, Zeff)> (W3) (MAC, LAC, Zeff) > (W4) (MAC, LAC, Zeff) > (W5) (MAC, LAC, Zeff). On the other side, the half-value layer and mean free path parameters (HVL, MFP) follow the trend as: (W1)(HVL, MFP) < (W2)(HVL, MFP) < (W3)(HVL, MFP) < (W4)(HVL, MFP) < (W5)(HVL, MFP). Results revealed that the studied glasses can be applied in several areas of optical and gamma radiation protection applications.