Recycling of waste porcelain into newly developed bismo-borate glass admixture with Gd3+ ions for nuclear radiation protection uses: An experimental and theoretical study

Abstract

The porcelain waste (PW) and the ionizing radiation have serious deleterious effects on the environment, therefore the recycling of PW to protect against radiation could be an attractive approach. This work aims to recycle PW and use it in preparing bismo-borate glasses (BBGs) admixture with gadolinium. Gadolinium was incorporated to enhance the optical, thermo-mechanical, and radiation shielding characteristics. Physical, optical, and radiation shielding properties were evaluated through experimental and theoretical techniques. Accordingly, XGd2O3: (20-X) waste: 30B2O3: 35Bi2O3: 15CaO glass composition where, (X = 0, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 wt %) using the melt cooling method. The amorphous nature of the prepared glasses was identified by peak X-ray diffraction profiles. The influence of Gd2O3 content on the physical and optical properties of the glass systems has been investigated experimentally. Moreover, experimental and theoretical studies on gamma-ray and neutron shielding features were performed. The results proved that the inclusion of Gd in the porcelain waste BBG results in the increment of the yield density that increases the gamma-ray attenuation capacity. In addition, dramatic and slight improvements were observed for both slow and fast neutrons, respectively. The slow neutron shielding improved by 52% due to 2 wt. % of Gd2O3. In conclusion, the PW was recycled and successfully incorporated into glass systems with improved physical, optical, and radiation (γ-ray and neutrons) shielding characteristics.