Synthesis, optical and radiation shielding capacity of the Sm2O3 doped borate glasses

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2020.120505Get rights and content

Abstract

A new glass system with a chemical formula (60-x) B2O3+20Bi2O3 +20Li2O+ xSm2O3: x = 0, 1.25, 2.5, 3.75 and 5 wt% was synthesized using the solid-state conventional approach. The density of the newly fabricated glasses was determined using the Archimedes method. The glasses’ structure was studied utilizing the X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. Moreover, some of the most effective optical features such as the refractive index (n), energy gap (Eg), and Urbach energy (Eu) were determined based on the absorbance obtained from the UV-visible spectrum. Furthermore, the radiation shielding capacity of the newly fabricated samples was assessed utilizing the Monte Carlo Modeling (MCNP 5) code and Phy-X/PSD software. The calculated mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) values at 0.015 MeV were observed to increase from 21.893 to 25.570 cm2 g−1 for glasses BBLS1 and BBLS5 respectively. Simulations demonstrated that the MAC of the fabricated glasses enhanced with the insertion of the Sm2O3 contents. Besides, the buildup factors (EBF and EABD) were calculated using the program Phy-X/PSD. The removal cross-section ƩR for the fast neutrons was theoretically calculated. The calculated results showed the ƩR varied in the range between 0.170 and 0.241 cm-1 for glasses BBLS1 and BBLS5 respectively. The recorded results depict that the insertion of Sm2O3 enhances the optical, gamma-ray, and neutron shielding capacities.

Introduction

Radiation is energy traveling through space, having some wave, and some particle characteristics. It can be categorized into 2- different kinds, ionizing and non-ionizing, which depend on the amount of energy present. Ionizing radiation can cause damage to matter, as it is capable of detaching electrons from atoms, and can be especially harmful to living tissue. This type of radiation mainly comes from the nuclei of atoms. Unstable nuclei often emit excess energy as radiation in the form of gamma photons. Gamma radiations represent energy transmitted in a wave without the movement of a medium. Gamma photons have relatively high energy and accordingly can move through the human body. Radiation has many advantageous applications, ranging from dental and medical fields to uses in agriculture, industry, and power generation [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]. Due to their high penetrating strength, gamma photons can damage internal organs and bone marrow. Accordingly, it is essential to minimize the hazard of the photons by using shielding materials [6]. Lead has been commonly utilized in the radiation shielding fields in the past. Lead has great mechanical and physical features which makes it an effective shielding material [7]. However, the toxicity of lead and the harm it can cause to the environment and humans can be lethal. Lead also may produce small particles in the form of aerosols that may be swallowed or breathed in by humans and animals. It is not rapidly expelled from the human body, nor a biodegradable substance, which makes its effects cumulative or long-term as it can cause partial or permanent failure to human organs [8]. Lead accumulates slowly in various tissues and organs of the body as a result of repeated exposure to lead sources, though poisoning rarely occurs as a result of one-time exposure. This is of great concern; lead poisoning of a child is very dangerous, as children's bodies absorb lead more than adults, and its effects on the brain and nervous system are more severe in children than adults. Accordingly; different glasses systems have been tested as possible alternatives to lead [9], [10], [11]. Recent studies on developing non-lead materials have focused on processes that incorporate heavy metal oxides such as bismuth, tungsten, and barium oxides into glass matrices that are then used as shields [5,[12], [13], [14]].

Boric acid is considered as the utmost glass raw material demonstrating both high transparency and thermal stability. The borate glasses are characterized by attractive physical, thermal, spectroscopic, and mechanical features and represent favorable materials for gamma and neutron detectors, ionizing radiation shielding materials, road, and disk amplifiers of solid-state lasers, scintillators beside several other utilizations [15], [16], [17]. Among the features desirable for radiation shielding utilizations, the density is particularly important and the addition of heavy metal oxides like Bi2O3 is one of the easiest ways to improve the density of any glass specimen.

Currently, however, the attenuation properties of the borate glasses with heavy metal oxides are less than that of lead and the samples are all thicker than commonly used lead sheets. Bismuth oxide is relatively cheap, not as cheap as lead oxide, but enough to make its environmental benefits worth it. With similar attenuation factors and similar weight, bismuth oxide can be an effective alternative for lead in the medical field. Samarium ions are fascinating ions for their applications in collisional excitation x-ray lasers and invisible lasers, orange color emitting lights, UV-sensors, and fluorescent display devices. Also, they exhibit different utilizations in color displays and high-density optical storage [18]. Because of these interesting characteristics, Sm2O3 doped borate glasses behave as favorable ionizing radiation shielding materials and in the currently hot topic of photonics research and industry [19]. In this study, the physical, optical, and structural features of a series of five glass samples fabricated with the composition B2O3-Bi2O3-Li2O-Sm2O3 were investigated versus different TeO2 contents. Also, MCNP5 code was employed to conclude the ionizing radiation attenuation characteristics for the fabricated glass samples.

Section snippets

Synthesis and characterization

A total of five glass samples with the nominal compositions (60-x) B2O3 +20Bi2O3+20Li2O+xSm2O3 having different substitutions ratio of Sm2O3 x = 0, 1.25, 2.5, 3.75, and 5 wt % were fabricated via the solid-state conventional approach. The samples were named as BBLS1 (x=0), BBLS2 (x=1.25), BBLS3 (x=2.5), BBLS4 (x=3.75) and BBLS5 (x=5). Boron oxide (B2O3) 99.99%, bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) 99.99%, lithium oxide 99.99%, and samarium oxide (Sm2O3) 99.999% have been mixed very well, subsequently

Optical and structural characterization

The XRD patterns of the quenched samples displayed no crystalline peaks. Figure 1 depicts that at 2θ ~ 29o, an expanded hump that confirmed the amorphous structure was observed for all glasses. The increasing substitution ratio of Sm2O3 content didn't damage the amorphous nature of the samples.

Density (ρ) and molar volume (MV) of the studied glass samples (60-x) B2O3 +20Bi2O3+20Li2O+xSm2O3 with increasing of Sm2O3 content is shown in Fig. 2. The density of the studied glass samples increases

Conclusion

A new series consists of five different glasses synthesized in a line with the chemical formula (60-x) B2O3+20Bi2O3 +20Li2O+ xSm2O3; x = 0, 1.25, 2.5, 3.75 and 5 wt.%. The fabricated samples densities were found to increase from 4.02 to 5.89 g cm−3, while the molar volume was decreased from 35.05 to 29. 15 cm3 mol−1 with the insertion of the Sm2O3 contents. The band gaps of optical energy for direct transition were decreased from 3.36 eV for BBLS1 to 2.76 eV for BBLS5, while it decreased from

CRediT authorship contribution statement

A.S. Abouhaswa: Methodology, Writing - review & editing. M.I. Sayyed: Supervision, Writing - original draft. Abeer S. Altowyan: Investigation, Funding acquisition, Project administration. Y. Al-Hadeethi: Supervision, Resources, Writing - review & editing. K.A. Mahmoud: Methodology, Software, Validation, Writing - review & editing.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University through the Fast-Track Research Funding Program.

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