Structural, mechanical, and radiation shielding properties of B2O3–Na2O–PbO–Fe2O3 glass system

Abstract

In the present study, four glass samples were fabricated using ordinary melting quenching, and annealing processes. The glass composition was based on (85-x)B2O3–10Na2O-xPbO-5Fe2O3 formula where x = 10, 20, 30 and 40 all in mol%. Additionally, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) was utilized to investigate the structural behavior of the synthesized glasses; it shows main peaks in the regions around 693 cm−1, 703 cm−1, 913 cm−1, 1001–1060 cm−1, 1187–1211 cm−1, and 1446–1303 cm−1. Moreover, various physical, and mechanical properties were calculated based on the Makishima and Mackenzi model to study the stability of the mentioned glasses. Young modulus reduced from 95.498 to 64.877 GPa for B75Pb10 and B45Pb40, respectively. The Phy-X/PSD software was employed to analyze various radiation shielding properties, including the mass attenuation coefficient and linear attenuation coefficient (LAC). The introduction of PbO% increased density values from 3.287 g/cm³ to 5.408 g/cm³, consequently enhancing the LAC across all incident photon energies. Numerically, the LAC values at 0.015 MeV for all glass samples prepared in this study are remarkably elevated with increasing Pb mol%: 101.38 cm−1, 193.46 cm−1, 289.15 cm−1, and 289.21 cm−1 for B75Pb10, B65Pb20, B55Pb30, and B45Pb40, respectively, suggesting efficient attenuation properties for B45Pb40 than the rest of samples prepared in this work. Various parameters were derived from the LAC, including the mean free path, half-value layer, transmission factor, and radiation protection efficiency. Additionally, an investigation into the variation of the effective atomic number for the prepared samples with energy was conducted. Finally, the relationship between the Specific Dose Constant (Γ) and Photon Energy (MeV) for the prepared samples, along with an examination of the dose rate, was carried out.