Gd₂O₃ boro-tellurite glasses: structural, optical, thermal, mechanical and radiation blocking studies

This investigation presents important properties of Gd³⁺ doped B₂O₃/SiO₂/TeO₂/Bi₂O₃/ZnO/BaO glass system coded as BiTeGd-x (x = 0, 1, 2, 3 & 4 mol%) synthesized by melt-quench method. On increasing the concentration of Gd₂O₃ from 0 to 4 mol%, we found the density enhancement from 5.323 to 5.579 gcm^{− 3}. From the FTIR analysis, the TeO₄/TeO₃ ratio was found to be highest for BiTeGd-4 indicating greater number of TeO₄ units in the network. Vickers micro-indentation test showed continuous increase in microhardness (H) with Gd content with BiTeGd-4 having maximum H. The CIE chromaticity diagram corresponding to 470 nm emission for BiTeGd-2 glass produced (x, y) = (0.285,0.306) which is nearer to pure white light coordinate. The radiation shielding parameters such as linear attenuation coefficient (LAC), effective atomic number (Z_eff), tenth value layer (TVL) and mean free path (MFP) were determined from Photon Shielding and Dosimetry (PSD) software in 0.015–15 MeV range. Maximum LAC and Z_eff, as well as minimum TVL and MFP for BiTeGd-4 glass in the entire 0.015–15 MeV energy range confirmed the potentiality BiTeGd-4 glass for gamma shielding application. The simulated results of LAC were also compared with the experimental results from NaI(Tl) detector for ¹³³Ba, ¹³⁷Cs and ⁶⁰Co radio-isotopes. The results suggested good agreement between the theoretical and experimental values. At photon energies < 1.5 MeV, the analysis of photon build-up factor showed lowest build-up for glass containing highest equivalent atomic number i.e. BiTeGd-4, which is also a quality of a good shielding material. BiTeGd-4 generated a highest (0.10624 cm^{− 1}) theoretical value of fast neutron removal cross-section.