Ta2O5-doped zinc-borate glasses: physical, structural, optical, thermal, and radiation shielding properties

Abstract

In this study, examination of the physical, structural, optical and thermal properties of the glasses with the glass composition (100 − x)(0.6ZnO·0.4B2O3)·xTa2O5 (0, 1, 2, 3, 4 mol%) was aimed. Physical properties of the glasses synthesized with the classical melt-quenching method were calculated; density and molar volume values of the synthesized glasses based on the doping quantity were calculated. FTIR spectra were used in order to determine the structural properties in doped glasses. During the optical examinations of the synthesized glasses, direct and indirect optical band gap values were obtained with the help of Tauc plot method, and Urbach energies were calculated. Glass transition temperatures, melting temperatures, crystallization temperatures, and thermal stabilities were determined with DSC analysis. The main purpose of this study is to synthesize high-density glasses by adding higher-density Ta2O5 instead of relatively low-density chemicals (ZnO and B2O3) and to examine the radiation shielding properties of these glasses. Therefore, the effect of Ta2O5 doping on gamma and neutron radiation shielding properties was investigated using Geant 4 Monte Carlo toolkit. It was observed that Ta2O5 doping increased radiation shielding properties significantly. Especially, the increase in gamma radiation shielding properties was determined to be more compared to the increase in neutron radiation shielding properties.