The effect of WO3 on the optical and radiation shielding properties of zinc-lead-borate glass

• Published in: Radiation physics and chemistry (Oxford, England : 1993) England : 1993), 2023-08, Vol.209, p.111007, Article 111007
• Main Authors: Iliyasu, Usman, Mohd Sanusi, Mohammad Syazwan, Ahmad, Nor Ezzaty
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Band gap energy; Borate glasses; Gamma radiation; Refractive index; Shielding parameters; Tungsten oxide
• ISSN: 0969-806X; 1879-0895
• DOI: 10.1016/j.radphyschem.2023.111007

A series of zinc-lead-tungsten-borate glass with composition 60B2O3+Pb3O4+(20-x)ZnO + xWO3 (where x = 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7 mol%) have been synthesized via melt-quench method. The synthesized glass's physical, optical, and radiation shielding properties were investigated. Adding 7 mol% WO3 slightly reduced the molar mass from 189.68 to 184.79 g mol−1 and increased the density from 5.21 to 6.37 g cm−3. For optical parameters, the effects of increasing 7 mol% WO3 decreased the refractive index by 3.80% (2.10–2.02) and increased the band gap energy by 10% (2.78–3.06). Meanwhile, the transmission coefficient rises from 77% to 79%, and the metallization increases from 0.46 to 0.49 as 7 mol% WO3 is added. The radiation shielding performance of the fabricated glasses was investigated. The computed mass attenuation coefficients (MAC) using Phy-X/PSD show a decreased trend with increased photon energies at a range of 0.015–15.000 MeV. An increasing MAC was observed with increasing WO3 content, for example, 77.406, 77.842, 77.694, and 77.925 cm2 g−1, respectively, for 1WZBPb, 2WZBPb, 4WZBPb, and 7WZBPb glass samples at 0.015 MeV. The 7WZBPb glass sample has a slightly lower HVL of 0.029 compared to 1WZBPb, which is 0.037 at 0.1 MeV. A similar trend was also observed for the mean free path, which is 0.88 for 7WZBPb and 1.05 for 1WZBPb. We found that the investigated WZBPb glasses had excellent optical and shielding properties and could be promising candidates as shielding materials against gamma radiation. •Zinc-lead-tungsten-borate glass shows excellent optical and radiation shielding properties.•Addition of 7 mol% WO3 into Pb3O4ZnO borate glass decreases the refractive index by 3.80%.•Addition of 7 mol% WO3 into Pb3O4ZnO borate glass changes the band gap from 2.78 to 3.06 eV.•Addition of 7 mol% WO3 into Pb3O4ZnO borate glass increases the glass density to 6.37 g cm−3.•7WO3 + Pb3O4ZnO borate glass shows the highest LAC (0.85–0.25 cm−1) at 0.5–5.0 MeV photon energies.