Nd2O3- doped borate/phosphate glasses for optical and radiation shielding applications: fabrication, physical, optical as well as gamma-ray attenuation capacity

Four glass systems of Nd2O3- doped borate/phosphate glasses with nominal compositions of (58-x)B2O3 + 25P(2)O(5) + 7BaO + 10Li(2)O + xNd(2)O(3):(0 (BPBLN0) <= x <= 3 (BPBLN3)) molar percentage were obtained by ordinary melt-quench approach. Physical properties, XRD measurements, and UV-Vis spectroscopy for these glass blocks were investigated. Also, the influence of the insertion of Nd3+ ions in structured glass on gamma-ray attenuation competence has been examined at selected photon energy (283.5 keV (Cs-137)-2506 keV (Co-60) via FLUKA code and Phy-X/PSD online platform. XRD patterns pinpointed a loss of ordered crystalline structure and verified the amorphous state of the glass blocks. Density (rho(glass)) of enhanced from 2.71 to 2.86 g/cm(3). The optical-energy-gap (E-g) diminished from 4.12 to 3.91 eV and 3.45 eV to 3.20 eV for direct and indirect transitions, respectively. The Urbach-energy (E-U) values were ranged from 0.74 eV for BPBLN0 to 0.35 eV for BPBLN3 glass. Mass-attenuation-coefficient was increased as Nd+3 ions increased in glass structure as: (BPBLN3)(MAC) > (BPBLN2)(MAC) > (BPBLN1)(MAC) > (BPBLN0)(MAC). At incoming photon energy, E = 2506 keV, the half-value-layer were decreased as Nd+3 ions increased in glass structure as HVL = 6.603 cm, 6.510 cm, 6.392 cm, and 6.227 cm for BPBLN0, BPBLN1, BPBLN2, and BPBLN3 samples, respectively. The effective-atomic-number (Z(eff)) followed the trend: (BPBLN3)(Zeff) > (BPBLN2)(Zeff) > (BPBLN1)(Zeff) > (BPBLN0)(Zeff). These outcomes confirmed that BPBLN-glass systems have the prospective to be regarded as suitable materials for applications involving optical and radiation attenuation.