Investigation of physicochemical, mechanical, and radiation shielding properties of BaO–ZnO–B₂O₃–Bi₂O₃ glasses

A comprehensive study was conducted on a series of glass samples, consisting of four samples with a composition of BaO–ZnO–B₂O₃–Bi₂O₃. The glasses were prepared using the melt-quench method, and several physicochemical instruments were employed to characterize the samples, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The radiation shielding properties were studied experimentally at 0.184, 0.280, 0.662, 0.710, and 0.810 MeV. The mechanical and structural features were examined theoretically and linked with XPS results. The XRD results exhibited the amorphous nature of all glasses. Meanwhile, the FTIR spectrum revealed the functional groups of B₂O₃, with slight variations in their positions. The XPS results showed a reduction in the bridging oxygen bond (BO) with decreasing B₂O₃, confirming the decrease in glass stability. A reduction in mechanical and structural properties is observed, confirming a decrease in glass stability. The band gap also showed a reduction with the reduced amount of B₂O₃. The mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) for the glasses was experimentally determined, and the measured MAC was compared with that obtained from XCOM software to validate the accuracy of the experimental data. The relative difference (RD) between the two methods varied between a minimum of 1.2 % and a maximum of 9.7 %. The half-value layer results showed that a sample of the prepared glasses with a thickness of approximately 0.5 cm is sufficient to shield 50 % of the photons with an energy of 0.184 MeV. The results also demonstrated that increasing the BaO, ZnO, and Bi₂O₃ leads to a decrease in the HVL.