Optical properties and photon-shielding performance of B2O3-based glasses

Abstract

TThis work reports experimental and theoretical studies of the optical and photon shielding factors of a borate glass system with the chemical structure: TiO2:3CaO:Al2O3:15Na2O (80−x)B2O3:xZnO (x = 0, 5, 10 and 15 wt.%). The molar refractivity , molar polarization αMol, reflectance loss, optical transmission, metallization criterion, and static dielectric constant were calculated via UV spectroscopy based on the standard formula while the mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) and mass energy absorption coefficient (MEAC) were obtained from XCOM for gamma ray energies 0.015 -15 MeV. All estimated parameters showed dependence on the chemical stoichiometry of the glasses. The Rm and αMol of the glasses decreased from 15.34 – 13.51 cm3/mol and 6.23 – 5.41 x10-24 cm3 respectively. The MAC fluctuated within the values of 0.01819-2.65347 cm2/g, 0.01884-5.86148 cm2/g, 0.01949-9.06948 cm2/g and 0.02013-12.27748 cm2/g while the MEAC varied between 0.01364-2.77151 cm2/g, 0.01408-5.17928 cm2/g, 0.01451-7.58705 cm2/g and 0.01495-9.99482 cm2/g for ZnO concentration of 0 – 15 wt% respectively. The present glass system showed good radiation shielding potential for transparent photon absorption functions especially at low photon energies.