Recycling potential of mobile phone waste glasses for radiation shielding applications

Abstract

The possible use of mobile phone waste cover glass (WCG) in the fabrication of ionizing radiation glass shield composites is considered in this study. Mixtures of WCG and Bi2O3 with weight proportion for WCG:Bi2O3 of 100:0 (WCG-Bi0), 95:05 (WCG-Bi5), 90:10 (WCG-Bi10), 85:15 (WCG-Bi15), and 80:20 (WCG-Bi20) were prepared using a melt and quench process. The density of the produced glasses was measured, and the Makishima-Mackenzie model was used for predicting the mechanical properties. Furthermore, the charged particles shielding ability of the waste samples was assessed using the ESTAR, PSTAR, ASTAR, and SRIM softwares. The fast and thermal neutron cross-sections were also calculated. The longitudinal, shear, bulk, and elastic modulus were found to vary between 70.86 and 63.53, 30.48–27.33, 48.00–43.03, and 75.47–67.66 MPa for WCG-Bi0 to WCG-Bi20, in that order. The stopping power values of the glass samples (WCG-Bi0 to WCG-Bi20) in regards to β-particles were 1.53–12.47, 1.54–12.83, 1.52–12.54, 1.50–12.26, and 1.48–11.97 MeV cm2/g with increasing Bi2O3 concentration. The shielding ability of the glass was enhanced by the addition of Bi2O3, thereby increasing the potential of using the WCG as an effective neutron and charged particle shield.