Effect of Some Heavy Metals on Physical and Radiation Shielding Properties of Different Glass Systems

Abstract

In the present dissertation, borosilicate glass systems containing two different heavy metal oxides were studied. Sodium borosilicate glass system containing PbO in the range from 20 up to 60 mol % was prepared and then a small amount of B2O3 was replaced by an equivalent part of gadolinium oxide to investigate the relevant impact. The composition containing 30 mol % of PbO was selected to be blended by Gd2O3 for structural considerations. The investigated samples were prepared using the normal melt quench technique. The structural properties of the prepared samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), density and its related parameters. The XRD patterns confirm the amorphous nature for both glass systems. The density results and its related parameters for both systems have been found to be compositional dependent. The FTIR deconvolution results showed BO3 to BO4 ratio has a vigorous variant trend for both systems. The structural properties showed formation of non-bridging oxygen of the prepared glasses. The measurements showed that lead oxide has dual role in the glass network while gadolinium only acts as a modifier oxide. A series of optical measurements at normal incidence were measured in the spectral range of 200–1200 nm. Analysis of the optical data reveals the compositional dependence of the optical parameters, such as cutoff wavelength (λ_Cutoff), optical band gap (E_g) and refractive index (n). The red shift in cutoff wavelength was attributed to the formation of non-bridging oxygen. The variation of optical band gap and refractive index was correlated to the impact of the heavy metals on the structure.