Enhancing the physical, optical and shielding properties for ternary Sb2O3–B2O3–K2O glasses

Abstract

Abstract Ternary Sb 2 O 3 –B 2 O 3 –K 2 O glass system, with general composition of x Sb 2 O 3 –(70-x) B 2 O 3 –30 K 2 O (where x = 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50) were prepared using melt-quenching technique. Structures of these glasses were investigated using XRD analysis and FT-IR spectroscopy. The optical properties were investigated using the UV–Vis NIR JASCO (Model V-670) Double Beam Spectrophotometer. Different physical parameters, such as density (ρ), molar volume ( V M ), oxygen molar volume ( V O ) and oxygen packing density values ( OPD ) have been estimated. Also, the Gamma radiation shielding ability have been characterized for the investigated glasses using Phy-X/PSD software in the photon energy range (0.015–15 MeV). XRD analysis confirm the amorphous nature of the prepared glasses. The optical energy gap of SBK glasses is decreasing from 4 to 2.63 eV with increasing Sb 2 O 3 content while refractive index is increasing from 2.17 to 2.5 because of increasing the non-bridging oxygens (NBOs) in the glass matrix. The molar refractivity ( R m ), molar polarizability ( α m ) and the third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility values χ 3 have been calculated, their values are found to increase with increasing Sb 2 O 3 content. Glass density and molar volume values for the SBK glasses increase with increasing Sb 2 O 3 content. Increasing the Sb 2 O 3 concentration enhance the radiation shielding features of the prepared glasses against gamma rays and neutrons. Hence, the mass attenuation coefficient ( MAC ) increases from 8.6 to 35.4 cm 2 /gm while the half value layer ( HVL ) decreases from 0.036 to 0.0046 cm at 0.015 MeV as the Sb 2 O 3 concentration increases from 0 to 50 mol%. The fast neutron cross section of the six investigated SBK glasses are (0.087, 0.092, 0.095, 0.091, 0.094 and 0.092 cm −1 ), respectively.

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