Physical, structural, optical and gamma radiation attenuation properties of germanate-tellurite glasses for shielding applications

Germanate-tellurite glasses with a composition of (75-x) TeO2-xGeO(2) -12.5ZnO-12.5BaO, where x = 0, 5, 10, and 20 mol%, were synthesized. A traditional melt-quenching-annealing process was used to fabricate these glasses, at 1000 degrees C for melting and 300 degrees C for five hours for annealing. X-ray diffraction was used to investigate the structural features of each sample between 10 degrees C and 80 degrees C to prove the amorphous nature of these glasses. Moreover, Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) was employed to explore the functional groups of Te, Ge, and other elements. To study the transparency, cut-off wavelength, and other optical properties of the glasses, such as indirect, direct, and Urbach energy band gaps, optical absorption was measured in the range of 200-800 nm. Additionally, the radiation shielding properties for the germanium based-tellurite glasses were calculated using Monte Carlo N particle transport code (MCNP-5). The simulated results were compared with XCOM software and the results between the two methods closely agreed. The maximum mass attenuation coefficient varied between 47.305 and 50.620 cm2.g(-1) for TG1 and TG4 glasses respectively at 0.015 MeV. The effective atomic number (Z(eff)) for the prepared germanium based-tellurite glasses was evaluated and the results revealed that the maximum Z(eff) values were found at 0.04 MeV, varying between 48.24 and 49.98 for TG4 and TG1.