Effect of Bi2O3 on the physical, structural and gamma ray shielding properties of phosphate glasses inside the ternary P2O5-SrO-Bi2O3 system

• Published in: Phosphorus, sulfur, and silicon and the related elements sulfur, and silicon and the related elements, 2023-09, Vol.198 (9), p.774-781
• Main Authors: Ramzi, Zahra, Nachit, Wafaa, El Gaini, Layla, Touhtouh, Samira, Benkhouja, Khalil
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bismuth oxides; Bismuth trioxide; Density; Depolymerization; Differential scanning calorimetry; Gamma rays; Glass transition; Glass transition temperature; Infrared spectra; Infrared spectroscopy; Molar volume; Phosphorus pentoxide; Physical properties; Radiation shielding; Spectrum analysis; Strontium oxides; Strontium phosphate glasses; Structural properties
• ISSN: 1042-6507; 1563-5325
• DOI: 10.1080/10426507.2023.2197646

Strontium phosphate glasses containing bismuth oxide were prepared using conventional melt-quenching technique. X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis suggests that stable ternary glasses of composition 70 P 2 O 5 -(30-x)SrO-xBi 2 O 3 can be obtained for x = 5-25 mol%. This study examines such physical properties as the density, molar volume (V m ), glass transition temperature (T g ), and structural properties in the interest of explaining the effect on these glasses of Bi-Sr substitution. An almost linear increase in the density when the concentration of bismuth increases between x = 5 and x = 10 mol% followed by monotonic decreasing is noted. However, the calculated molar volume (V m ) behaves in exactly the opposite way. DSC curves showed that the glass transition temperature (T g ) decreases by 555 °C down to 490 °C as the concentration of Bi 2 O 3 increases, due to the increase in the number of bridging oxygens. Structural investigations performed using IR spectroscopy revealed that the structure of the phosphate network contains predominately meta-phosphate (Q 2 ) units, with contributions from pyrophosphate (Q 1 ) and orthophosphate (Q 0 ). The infrared spectra also revealed depolymerization of the phosphate chains in the glass system, with increased Bi 2 O 3 concentration and the formation of P-O-Bi bonds. The study of the gamma ray shielding parameters showed that the prepared glasses can be used for shielding radiation applications.