An in-depth analysis of the optical and radiation shielding characteristics of PbF2-MoO3-Bi2O3-B2O3 glasses

Abstract

Abstract This study investigates the optical and radiation shielding characteristics of different glass systems, such as PbF2, MoO3, Bi2O3, and B2O3, with varied concentrations of PbF2. The glass samples were manufactured by a melt quenching technique, with a composition of 20 Bi2O3—10 MoO3 - (70-x) B2O3-x PbF2, where x is a value between 0 and 20 mol%. The optical properties were evaluated using UV–vis spectrophotometry, while the radiation shielding parameters were calculated using Phy-X/PSD software. The mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) at 0.015 MeV exhibited an increase from 34.101 to 54.190 cm2 g−1 as the quantity of PbF2 rose. At an energy of 15.0 keV, the effective atomic number (Zeff) increased from 74.11 to 76.63, while the half-value layer (HVL) decreased from 0.00263 cm to 0.00188 cm. The values of the optical band gap (Eg) ranged from 2.577 to 2.105 eV, showing a decrease as the PbF2 content rose. The study shows that these glass structures can be utilized in advanced technological applications that demand higher optical and radiation shielding properties, thanks to their improved characteristics with increasing PbF2 content.