Zinc Bismuth Borate Glasses Research Articles

Mathematical Calculation of X-Rays/Gamma-Rays Interaction with Zinc Bismuth Borate Glass Using Phy-x Program in Compton Energy Range

The zinc bismuth borate (ZBB)glasses have been calculated using Phy-X program at the Compton energy range. The ZBB glasses were decided in the concentration of Bi2O3 = 25, 30, 35 and 40 mol%. The mass attenuation coefficient, the effective atomic number, the effective electron density, the half value layer and the lead equivalent thickness were investigated. The results show the trend of values were decrease when the Compton energy increasing and found the values were higher when the concentration of Bi2O3 increases. The Zeff and Neff show similar trend showing that the values decrease with decrease in Bi2O3 content. The HVL value shows lowest with an increase in concentration of Bi2O3 suggesting their role to be good candidature for radiation shielding material applications. The lead equivalent thickness of glass samples shows a good trend when adding more concentration of Bi2O3 and found the highest value at 40 mol% of Bi2O3 concentration.

Effect of replacement of Bi2O3 by Li2O on structural, thermal, optical and other physical properties of zinc borate glasses

Zinc bismuth borate glasses modified by lithium oxide with composition (25-x) Bi2O3–60B2O3–15ZnO-xLi2O, where, x = 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 mol% have been synthesized using standard melt quenching technique. Amorphous nature of the glass samples has been ascertained by appearance of broad hump in X-ray diffraction patterns. FTIR and Raman studies advocated that glass structure is mainly built of [BO4], [BO3] and [ZnO4] structural units, however, Bi2O3 exists primarily as [BiO6] octahedral units. The glass transition temperature (Tg) shows a non-linear variation with increase in Li2O content. Trend in the values of ‘Tg’ is in accordance with change in structure of glass matrix (i.e. fraction of [BO4] units (N4) on addition of Li2O). The values of density (ρ), molar volume (Vm) and crystalline volume (Vc) are found to decrease with increase in Li2O content. The percentage value of transmittance is found to increase with increase in Li2O content. Optical band gap energy ‘Eg’ values has been determined from fitting of experimental data with Tauc’s relation and Hydrogenic excitonic model (HEM) and are found in the range of 2.432–3.211 eV. The HEM model shows good agreement with experimentally observed data, indicates the exciton formation in studied glass system. The values of Urbach energy (ΔΕ) have been estimated by fitting of experimental data with a new empirical relation and its values are found in the range of 0.194 eV–0.294 eV. The values of metallization criterion (M) were found in the range of 0.349–0.401, suggesting that the prepared glasses may be considered as potential candidate for non-linear optical applications.

Investigations on structural and radiation shielding properties of Er3+ doped zinc bismuth borate glasses

Novel optical glasses 10ZnO-5Na2CO3-10Bi2O3-(75-x)B2O3-xEr2O3 with x = (0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 1.0) mol%, were synthesized by melt quench technique and characterized through XRD, EDAX, optical and luminescent properties, before and after irradiating them with high energy (1.3 MeV) gamma rays. Moreover, the gamma photons attenuation characterizations for the samples under study were studied. The mass attenuation coefficients for the selected glasses were affected with the addition of Er2O3. Based on the findings from the mass attenuation coefficients, ZNBBEr-5 has better photon attenuation features in comparison with the other samples. Also, arising the Er2O3 content in the glasses, led to increase the effective atomic number. The mean free path for the prepared samples were compared with some shieling glasses. Shielding performance of the present glass samples against gamma radiation reveals pair production is prominent at 1.3 MeV. UV-VIS–NIR absorption edge was red shifted after gamma irradiation indicating the formation of electron/absorption centers in the glass matrix. Thermally stimulated Luminescence (TL) spectroscopy technique showed five electron trap centers at 445K, 491K, 545K, 590K, 620K with acceptable FOM [< 5%] values. The number of overlapping peaks and their trapping parameters like kinetic order, activation energy, peak temperature, frequency factor and half life were determined using the Computerized Glow Curve Deconvolution (CGCD). Linear behaviour obtained through the dose response of the glass (5 kGy–50 kGy) proved their suitability for dosimetric application in the food irradiation zones and in red LEDs (<50 kGy).

Influence of 1.25 MeV gamma rays on optical and luminescent features of Er3+ doped zinc bismuth borate glasses

Abstract Glasses based on 10ZnO-5Na2CO3-10Bi2O3-(75-x)B2O3-xEr2O3 with x = (0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 1.0) mol%, were synthesized by melt quenching technique and characterized through optical and luminescent features, before and after irradiating them with high energy (1.25 MeV) gamma rays. The amorphous nature of the glasses and the presence of various structural groups like BiO6, BO3 and BO4 were confirmed through XRD and FTIR measurements. Optical properties were studied through UV–VIS–NIR absorption spectra. Decrease in band gap values after gamma irradiation confirmed the creation of color centers in the glass matrix. Thermally stimulated Luminescence (TL) and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) spectroscopy techniques were used to study the trap centers induced after irradiation. The number of peaks and their trapping parameters were assessed using the Computerized Glow Curve Deconvolution (CGCD). The linearity in dose response proves their suitability in usage for dosimeter and shields in radiation zones within the dose.

Investigation of gamma radiation shielding properties of lithium zinc bismuth borate glasses using XCOM program and MCNP5 code

In this work, we examined the usefulness of the lithium zinc bismuth borate glass systems for various radiation shielding applications and for this purpose, the mass attenuation coefficients for the glasses in the composition 50 Bi2O3–15 B2O3–(35-x) ZnO–(x) Li2O (x=0, 5, 10, 15, 20mol%) were calculated by both XCOM software and MCNP5 simulation code, respectively, within the energy range 0.015MeV–10MeV. The obtained results indicated good agreement between mass attenuation coefficient values derived from XCOM program and MCNP5 code. The obtained mass attenuation coefficients are then used to calculate the effective atomic number (Zeff), half value layer (HVL) and mean free path (MFP) for the glasses. Among the selected glasses, the glass with 35mol% ZnO was found to possess superior gamma-ray shielding effectiveness due to its higher values of both mass attenuation coefficient and effective atomic number and lower values of both HVL and MFP. The MFP values of the present glasses were compared with different glass systems and ordinary concrete. In addition, the macroscopic effective removal cross-section for fast neutron (ΣR) values was also evaluated. It is found that the ΣR values for the studied glasses lie within the range 0.1286–0.1587cm−1.

FTIR and Optical Properties of Europium Doped Lithium Zinc Bismuth Borate Glasses

Alkali oxide,zinc bismuth borate glasses with composition xLi2O-15ZnO-20Bi2O3-(63-x) - B2O3-2EuO [where x= 0, 5, 10, 15 mole%] doped with Europium oxide (2% in the total composition),were prepared by melt quenching technique. The amorphous nature of the prepared glasses was confirmed by X-ray diffraction studies.The glass transition temperature (Tg) values were evaluated from Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) thermograms, which confirms the glassy nature. By using Archimedes principle,density of the samples was evaluated. Molar volume was calculated from the density data. The IR vibrational studies and structural changes in the boron and bismuth co-ordination with composition were investigated using FT-IR spectroscopy. The optical absorption spectra were recorded in the wave length 200-900nm, cutoff wavelengths, direct, indirect optical band gaps, Urbach energy, reflection loss, refractive index, Molar refraction (Rm), Molar electronic polarizability (αm) values were evaluated.

Influence of NiO on Physical and Optical Properties of Zinc Bismuth Borate Glasses

The objectives of this work are to prepare and to study some properties of zinc bismuth borate glasses containing NiO in chemical formula 10ZnO : 30Bi2O3 : (60-x)B2O3 : xNiO, with x is the concentration of NiO, ranges from 0.00 to 0.05 mol%. The results found that the density of glasses increase with increasing of NiO concentration, whereas the molar volumes decrease. Absorption spectra were performed using UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometer in the region of ultraviolet to near infrared, the absorption peak was not found. Moreover, the color in CIE L*a*b* of all glass samples were also investigated.

Optical and luminescence characteristics of Eu3+ doped zinc bismuth borate (ZBB) glasses for red emitting device

Zinc bismuth borate (ZBB) glasses with chemical composition of (60−x) B2O3: 30Bi2O3: 10ZnO: xEu2O3 for different Eu2O3 concentrations of x=1, 3, 5, 7 and 9mol% were prepared by the conventional melt quenching technique. The density and molar volume of the glasses have been found to increase with Eu2O3 concentration. The IR studies indicated that these glasses were made up of [BiO3], [BO3], [BO4] and [BO] basic structural units. The absorption spectra had revealed two intense bands due to 7F0→7F6 (2076nm) and 7F1→7F6 (2198nm) transitions in the NIR regions. The fractional populations of the (7F0) and (7F1) ground state were 65% and 35%, respectively. Five luminescence bands were observed at 579nm (5D0→7F0), 589nm (5D0→7F1), 613nm (5D0→7F2), 651nm (5D0→7F3) and 696nm (5D0→7F4), when excited by a 465nm source, the most intense red emission was found at 613nm. A shorter decay time of 5D0 excited state was found with increasing of Eu3+ concentration as more asymmetries were created around Eu3+. For comparison, further investigations were carried out with two other glass structures; bismuth borate glass (BB) and zinc borate glass (ZB), doped with Eu3+ in the same range. The ZBB glasses have exhibited with the highest emission intensity especially at 613nm; the intensity for the ZBB was around 7 times of the ZB and twice of the BB glasses.

Structural and Optical Properties of Ho&lt;sup&gt;3+&lt;/sup&gt; Doped ZnO-Bi&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;O&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;-B&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;O&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt; Glasses

Ho3+ doped zinc bismuth borate glasses of the composition 10ZnO : 30Bi2O3 : (60-x)B2O3 : xHo2O3 (where x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 mol%) were fabricated by conventional melt quenching technique. In order to understand the role of Ho2O3 in these glasses, the density, molar volume and optical spectra were investigated. The molar volume decreases with an increase in Ho2O3 content, which is attributed to the structure becomes more compacted. The absorption spectra of Ho3+ doped in zinc bismuth borate glass correspond to several bands, which are assigned from the ground state, 5I8 to 5G5 (420 nm), 5G6 + 5F1 (451 nm), 5F2 + 5F4 (538 nm), 5F5 (643 nm) and 5I5 (1152 nm). Moreover, the optical basicities were also theoretically determined.

Gamma radiation shielding and optical properties measurements of zinc bismuth borate glasses

In this work, the zinc bismuth borate (ZBB) glasses of the composition 10ZnO:xBi2O3:(90−x)B2O3 (where x=15, 20, 25 and 30mol%) were prepared by the melt quenching technique. Their radiation shielding and optical properties were investigated and compared with theoretical calculations. The mass attenuation coefficients of ZBB glasses have been measured at different energies obtained from a Compton scattering technique. The results show a decrease of the mass attenuation coefficient, effective atomic number and effective electron density values with increasing of gamma-ray energies; and good agreements between experimental and theoretical values. The glass samples with Bi2O3 concentrations higher than 25mol% (25 and 30mol%) were observed with lower mean free path (MFP) values than all the standard shielding concretes studied. These results are indications that the ZBB glasses in the present study may be developed as a lead-free radiation shielding material in the investigated energy range.

Spectroscopic and structural investigations of Er3+ doped zinc bismuth borate glasses

Erbium doped glasses having composition 20ZnO·xBi2O3·(79.5−x)B2O3 (15≤x≤35, x in mol%) were prepared by melt-quench technique. The spectroscopic properties were investigated using optical absorption and fluorescence spectra. The Judd–Ofelt intensity parameters, Ωλ (λ=2, 4, 6) were determined from the spectral intensities of absorption bands in order to calculate the radiative transition probability (AR), radiative life time (τR), branching ratio (βR) for various excited luminescent states. Using the emission spectra, full width at half maximum (FWHM), stimulated emission cross-section (σe) and figure of merit (FOM) were evaluated. The high values of Judd–Ofelt parameters indicate a substantial mixing of other electronic configuration into the 4fN configuration by the random crystal field in the glasses. All the intensity parameters (Ωλ) decrease with increase in Bi2O3 content and the effect is found to be most pronounced for Ω2 values. The structural investigations of the glasses were carried out by recording the IR transmission spectra. A correlation between the network forming units with the multi-phonon relaxation rate and hence with the possibility of radiative quantum efficiency has been made. In addition, various physical and optical parameters have been determined from the measured density and refractive index values.

Structural, absorption and fluorescence spectral analysis of Pr 3+ ions doped zinc bismuth borate glasses

Glasses having composition 20ZnO· xBi 2O 3·(79.5 − x)B 2O 3·0.5Pr 6O 11 were prepared by melt quench technique. The amorphous nature of the prepared glass samples was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The spectroscopic properties of these glasses were investigated by recording optical absorption and fluorescence spectra. The structural investigations of the glasses were carried out by recording the IR spectra. The optical properties of Pr 3+ ions doped zinc borate glasses with varying concentration of bismuth oxide have been studied. The Judd–Ofelt intensity parameters Ω λ ( λ = 2, 4, 6) and other radiative properties like radiative transition probability, radiative life time, branching ratio and stimulated emission cross-section of the prepared glasses have been calculated. The variation of Ω 2 with Bi 2O 3 content has been attributed to changes in the asymmetry of the ligand field at the rare earth ion site and to the changes in their rare earth oxygen ( RE-O) covalency. The branching ratio for 3P 0 → 3F 2 transition is 42% and the predicted spontaneous radiative transition probability rates are fairly high (14,347–14,607 s −1). This is beneficial for lasing emission. The stimulated emission cross-section for all the emission bands has been calculated.

EPR, optical absorption and photoluminescence properties of MnO 2 doped 23B 2O 3–5ZnO–72Bi 2O 3 glasses

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), optical absorption and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopic measurements are performed on Mn 2+ doped high bismuth containing zinc–bismuth–borate glasses. TEM images reveal homogeneously dispersed Bi o nanoparticles (NPs) of spherical shape with size about 5 nm. EPR spectra exhibit predominant signals at g≈2.0 and 4.3 with a sextet hyperfine structure. The resonance signal at g≈2.0 is due to Mn 2+ ions in an environment close to octahedral symmetry, where as the resonance at g≈4.3 is attributed to the rhombic surrounding of the Mn 2+ ions. The hyperfine splitting constant ( A) indicates that Mn 2+ ions in these glasses are moderately covalent in nature. The zero-field splitting parameter D has been calculated from the allowed hyperfine lines. The optical absorption spectrum exhibits a single broad band centered at 518 nm (19,305 cm −1) is assigned to the 6A 1g(S)→ 4T 1g(G) transition of Mn 2+ ions. The visible and near infrared (NIR) luminescence bands at 548, 652 and 804 nm have been observed when excited at 400 and 530 nm, respectively. These luminescence centers are supposed to be caused by the lower valence state of bismuth, such as Bi 2+ and Bi + ions, generated during melting process.

Judd–Ofelt parameters and radiative properties of Sm 3+ ions doped zinc bismuth borate glasses

Glasses having composition 20ZnO· xBi 2O 3·(79 − x)B 2O 3 (15 ⩽ x ⩽ 35 mol%) and doped with 1 mol% Sm 3+ ions have been prepared by melt quench technique. Optical absorption and fluorescence spectra have been recorded. Judd–Ofelt approach has been applied for the f ↔ f transition of Sm 3+ ions to evaluate various intensity parameters ( Ω 2, Ω 4, Ω 6). The variations in intensity parameters, radiative transition probabilities and hypersensitive band positions with composition have been discussed. The variation of Ω 2 with Bi 2O 3 content have been attributed to change in the asymmetry of the ligand field at the rare earth ion site and to the changes in their rare earth–oxygen ( RE–O) covalency, whereas the variation of Ω 6 is found to be strongly dependent on nephlauxetic effect. The shift of the hypersensitive band shows that the covalency of the RE–O bond increases with increase of Bi 2O 3 content due to increased interaction between the Sm 3+ ion and non-bridging oxygens. The radiative transition probabilities for the Sm 3+ ions are large in zinc bismuth borate glasses, suggesting their suitability as laser material.

Effect of Bi2O3 on physical, optical and structural studies of ZnO–Bi2O3–B2O3 glasses

Zinc bismuth borate glasses with composition 10ZnO– x Bi 2 O 3 –(90 − x )B 2 O 3 (where x is in mol%, ranging from 25 to 50 in steps of 5) have been prepared using conventional melt quenching technique. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies showed that the glass transition temperature ( T g ) decreases from 473 °C to 449 °C as the content of Bi 2 O 3 increases. The optical absorption studies revealed that the cutoff wavelength increases while optical band gap energy ( E opt ) and Urbach energy (Δ E ) decreases with increase of Bi 2 O 3 content. The E opt values of these glasses are found to be in the range 3.464–3.169 eV where as the values of Δ E lies in the range 0.503–0.178 eV. The DSC and optical absorption studies revealed that the glass network becomes less tightly packed and degree of disorder increases with increase in Bi 2 O 3 concentration in the present glass system. The IR studies indicate that these glasses are made up of [BiO 6 ], [BO 3 ] and [BO 4 ] basic structural units. The values of optical basicity evaluated using oxide ion polarizability α b 2 − ( E opt ) obtained from optical band gap are in agreement with those values calculated from optical basicity values of the constituent oxides.