Synthesis and Characterization of Zinc-Lead-Phosphate Glasses Doped with Europium for Radiation Shielding

Ahmed M. El-Khayatt (), Heba A. Saudi and Norah H. AlRowis
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Ahmed M. El-Khayatt: Department of Physics, College of Science, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh 11623, Saudi Arabia
Heba A. Saudi: Physics Department, Faculty of Science (Girls Branch), Al-Azhar University, Cairo 11754, Egypt
Norah H. AlRowis: Department of Physics, College of Science, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh 11623, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 12, 1-21

Abstract: Appropriate glass systems can provide efficient transparent radiation shielding. The current study involved the preparation of the glass system with a composition of xEu 2 O 3 -(15-x)ZnO-10CaO-35PbO-40P 2 O 5 (where x = 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 wt.% Eu 2 O 3 ). The formation of the glass phase was confirmed using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The study analyzed physical and structural parameters, such as optical conductivity (σ opt ), refractive index ( n ), and optical band gap (E g ), with the amount of Eu 2 O 3 . The findings indicate that the optical band gap increased as the Eu 2 O 3 content increased. Additionally, a decrease in Urbach energy (E U ) was observed, suggesting an improvement in the orderliness of the glass. The study also determined various parameters for gamma-ray shielding, including mass attenuation coefficient ( μ m ), effective atomic number ( Z eff ), and kerma coefficient ( k ). For neutron shielding characteristics, the macroscopic effective removal cross-section (Σ R ) of fast neutrons was calculated.

Keywords: radiation; shielding; glasses; optical properties (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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