Synergistic effect of zirconia reinforcement in SrTiO3-borosilicate glasses for radiation shielding applications

Radiation shielding plays a crucial role in safeguarding human health, and ongoing research is exploring alternative materials for this vital purpose. Herein, physical and radiation-shielding features of the manufactured glasses via melt-quenching technique doped with ZrO2 within a glassy system, (100-x-y)[SrTiO3]-x[2B2O3·SiO2]-y(ZrO2), (39 ≤ x ≤ 40, and 0 ≤ y ≤ 4 mol % ZrO2) were studied. The density (ρ) and field-strength (Fs) values of the synthesized glasses were found to be in an increasing order of 2.6068–3.0720 g/cm3 and 5.2401–14.2399 Å−2 respectively. The study also encompassed an exploration of the radiation shielding properties such as mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), linear attenuation coefficient (LAC), half value length, tenth value length, mean free path, effective atomic number (Zeff), and effective electron-density (Neff) of the synthesized glasses, employing the freely available ‘Phy-X/PSD’ software within the energy range of 0.015–15 MeV. The highest values of MAC, LAC, and Neff at 0.02 MeV were found to be 25.275 cm2/g, 77.644 cm−1, and 8.42 × 1023 electrons/g for SrTZ4 (x = 39 and y = 4) glass respectively. Notably, among all the fabricated glasses, SrTZ4 emerged as the standout performer, demonstrating superior gamma-radiation protecting abilities along with effective physical properties. Thus, the fabricated SrTZ4 glass with its remarkable radiation shielding properties holds promising applications for the development of radiation protection equipment.