Effects of TiO2, V2O5, MnO2 and Tl2O3 on structural, physical, optical and ionizing radiation shielding properties of strontium boro-tellurite glass: An experimental study

We investigate the effect of various modifiers (vanadium oxide, manganese oxide, thallium oxide, and titanium oxide) on the structural, optical, and radiation shielding properties of strontium boro-tellurite glass. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and physical properties were employed to investigate the glasses' structure. The diffuse-reflectance spectrum was used to determine band gap and optical parameters. The mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) was measured experimentally, and the obtained results are then bench-marked with the simulated data from XCOM for the same compounds. The experimental results exhibit a reasonable correlation with the XCOM data with relative difference between 0.75% and 5.23%. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) test further ascertained from a statistical point of view that the experimentally measured data matched very well the data obtained from the XCOM with the maximum vertical deviation (Dn) between 0.66% and 1.66% in all samples. The XRD proved the amorphous structure for all samples. The FTIR results showed three bands placed at 500-815 cm(-1), 815-1150 cm(-1), and 1150-1502 cm(-1), corresponding to TeO4 and B-O-B, BO4, and BO3, respectively. The sample containing thallium oxide (Tl2O3) showed the highest density (5.1024 g/cm(3)), then manganese (SBT:Mn, 4.2333 g/cm(3)), titanium (SBT:Ti, 4.0591 g/cm(3)), and vanadium (SBT:V, 3.6875). The SBT:Mn and SBT:V samples recorded the highest (3.7180 eV) and the lowest (2.7480 eV) bandgap, respectively. In contrast, the mass attenuation coefficient results ranged from 0.2295 to 0.6479 for SBT:V and SBT:Tl samples, respectively. The values of thickness equivalent for SBT glass samples (Deq) are 16.362, 13.650, 13.052, and 4.188 for SBT:V, SBT:V, SBT:Ti, SBT:Mn, and SBT:Tl, respectively. Based on acquired results, the SBT:Tl sample has superior radiation shielding features that nominate to be a radiation shielding substance.

Automated summary

This study investigates the impact of various modifiers (vanadium oxide, manganese oxide, thallium oxide, and titanium oxide) on the structure, optical properties, and radiation shielding properties of strontium boro-tellurite glass. Experimental results show that different samples exhibit variations in structure, optical parameters, and mass attenuation coefficient, with the inclusion of thallium oxide showing superior radiation shielding properties.