Physical, optical and radiation-shielding features of CeO2-reinforced Li2O–ZnO–SiO2 glass

Abstract

In this work, the glass system of 3.95Li2O–9.95Na2O–0.85Al2O3–(100 − x)SiO2–9.25CaO–4.7MgO–3.8ZnO–xCeO2, where x is 0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0 mol%, was investigated for a potential use in radiation-shielding applications. For this purpose, the newly developed Phy-X/PSD software was utilized to determine the radiation-shielding characteristics in the proposed lithium (Li)–zinc (Zn)–silicate (LZS) glass system. Based on the linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) calculations, the half-value layer (HVL) and the radiation protection efficiency were evaluated for the glass series. Further, some physical properties such as glass density (ρ glass), molar volume (V m), oxygen molar volume and oxygen packing density were estimated, while various optical features such as refractive index (n) and metallization criterion (M) were also assessed. The findings clearly showed that the addition of cerium (IV) oxide (CeO2) in the LZS glass system was a good choice for improving radiation-shielding characteristics – that is, the LAC was efficiently enhanced from 0.145 to 0.166 cm−1 at 1.5 MeV as the concentration of cerium (IV) oxide was increased from 0 to 10 mol%. On the other hand, the HVL decreased from 3.066 to 2.592 cm for LZS0 to LZS4. Moreover, the physical calculations revealed that ρ glass could be increased from 2.8181 to 3.2751 g/cm3 with the addition ratio of cerium (IV) oxide as 0–10 mol%, respectively. More importantly, LZS4, having the highest cerium (IV) oxide content, can compete with commercial radiation-shielding glasses.