Study of the efficiency of increasing the Bi2O3 concentration on the optical, radiation shielding and strength characteristics of 0.5TeO2-(0.5-x)WO3-xBi2O3 glasses

Abstract

The work is devoted to the study of the effect of changes in the concentration of Bi 2 O 3 in the structure of 0.5TeO 2 -(0.5-x)WO 3 -xBi 2 O 3 telluride glasses on the optical, radiation shielding and strength characteristics. A mechanochemical method with subsequent sintering at a temperature of 1000 °C was chosen as a method for obtaining glasses. This method of producing glasses allows obtaining amorphous-like glasses with high strength values. During the determination of strength properties, it was found that an increase in the Bi 2 O 3 concentration leads to an increase in strength by 30–50% at concentrations x = 0.2–0.25. During measurements of optical properties, it was found that an increase in the Bi 2 O 3 concentration leads to a change in the transmission value, as well as a shift in the fundamental absorption edge. During tests to determine the radiation shielding efficiency of the synthesized glasses, it was found that an increase in the Bi 2 O 3 concentration leads to an increase in the radiation shielding characteristics by a factor of 1.5–2 when absorbing gamma quanta with energies of 660–1270 keV, and in the case of low-energy gamma quanta, their almost complete absorption. • Changes in density and porosity depending on the concentration of Bi 2 O 3 dopant. • The optical properties of glasses, band gap and refractive index were determined using the UV–Vis spectroscopy method. • TWBO-4 and TWBO-5 samples the shielding efficiency is more than 93% that demonstrates that practically all gamma quanta are absorbed in these glasses. • The shielding efficiency greater than 50% for TWBO-4 and TWBO-5 samples in the case of shielding of gamma quanta with an energy of 1270 keV.