Ionizing radiation shielding efficiency and elastic properties of zirconium/cobalt/nickel/vanadium lithium borotellurite glasses

The mechanical and radiation interaction parameters are vital for characterizing a material as potential shields in nuclear radiation protection applications. This study presents a glass system with the following formula: 56B(2)O(3)-25Li(2)O(3)-10Na(2)O-5CaO-2Al(2)O(3)-2SrO-0.5TeO(2)-1X wt%: X = ZrO2 (G1-Zr), CoO (G2-Co), NiO (G3-Ni), and V2O5 (G4-V). The photon attenuation parameters were evaluated through the use of XCOM software for typical photon energy sources used in medical and research applications of photons (22-1330 keV). In addition, the mechanical properties of glasses were examined. The maximum value of the mass attenuation coefficient (mu(m)) of 2.356, 2.049, 2.073, and 1.958 cm(2)/g for G1-Zr, G2-Co, G3-Ni, and G4-V, respectively, was obtained at the least energy of 22 keV. The minimum value of mu(m) was obtained at 1.33 MeV with corresponding value of 0.054 cm(2)/g for the four glasses. The range of effective atomic number (Z(eff)) of the glasses was 7.189-17.88, 7.182-16.242, 7.185-16.353, and 7.171-15.869 for G1-Zr, G2-Co, G3-Ni, and G4-V, respectively, for the considered energy spectrum. Based on the half value layer (HVL) value at 662 keV, it is clear that the present glasses are better photon absorbers than OC and RS-253-G18 glass shield. The value of Sigma(R) for the glasses revealed that G4-V is a better fast neutron absorber among the investigated glasses. The G1-Zr glass sample has a minimum elastic moduli values, but G3-Ni sample has the maximum values. Generally, the investigated glasses can be used as appropriate materials for gamma-ray shielding applications.