Physical and structural studies of cadmium lead boro-tellurite glasses doped with Cu2+ ions

The current manuscript explains the significance of cadmium oxide (CdO) in the field of radiation shielding materials (RSM). The effect of CdO in lead boro-tellurite glasses studied using the essential properties (density, thickness, structural studies, etc.) for RSM. The glasses with the combination of CdO-PbO-TeO2-B2O3-CuO glasses with various concentrations of CdO were prepared using melt quenching method. The incorporation of PbO and CdO enhances the density of boro-tellurite glasses, which is the most important property of RSM. The increase in density is assigned to the creation of BO4 units in the glass matrix. Absorption spectra have shown a broad absorption band in near IR region, which is the characteristic of copper-doped glasses. Optical bandgap and Urbach energy evaluated from the spectra and refractive index, molar refraction, and electronic polarizability also calculated using the spectra and the density values. Smaller values in Urbach energy values suggested the less disorder in the glasses. Spin-Hamiltonian and bonding parameter values were calculated from EPR spectra. These parameters suggested that Cu2+-surrounded ligand environment is distorted tetragonally with octahedral sites and found that all the bondings are moderately ionic in nature. A deconvoluted spectrum is used to get exact band positions in the FTIR spectra. Residual graph is drawn to know the percentage difference in experimental and simulated curves. FTIR spectra confirmed the creation of BO4 units and the presence of BO3, BO4, TeO3, and TeO4 structural units.

Automated summary

The manuscript explores the role of cadmium oxide in radiation shielding materials, highlighting the importance of increased density in lead boro-tellurite glasses for radiation shielding properties. Spectral analysis reveals characteristics of copper-doped glasses, with lower Urbach energy values indicating higher glass orderliness.