Investigations on physical, structural, elastic, optical and radiation shielding properties of boro-phosphate glasses for radioactive waste management applications

Abstract

The effectiveness of nuclear shielding has been investigated on Eu3 doped boro-phosphate glass matrix by altering the extent of modifier addition (CdF and ZnF), for a specific assortment of multicomponent glasses with the following composition; 35B2O3+20P2O5+ 15BaO+9LiO+(20−x)ZnF + xCdF+1Eu2O3 (where x = 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 in mol%). Various structural deformations are observed in the present batch of glasses, and the sample's irregularity has been verified by examining FTIR and XRD techniques. The structural and elastic features have been estimated from the physical parameters like density and the index of refraction. The influence of the modifiers reveals the existing glass structure's structural integrity, which in turn explains the fact that the samples are a suitable choice for an upgraded shielding procedure. The BPBZC20 glass revealed to be hard and firmly packed by the computed elastic moduli, which is necessary for a superior shielding channel. To ascertain the radiation protection capabilities, the key parameters including the mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), equivalent atomic number, half-value layer (HVL), effective electron density, mean free path (MFP), and buildup factors of the titled glasses are determined. These assessments were conducted using the user-friendly Phy-X software and the robustness of the MAC is validated with FLUKA Monte Carlo stimulation.