Effect of gamma ray irradiation on optical and luminescence properties of CeO2 doped bismuth glass

High lead oxide based Radiation Shielding Window (RSW) glass is highly toxic in nature and thus health haz-ardous. Therefore, a new way to design environmental friendly non-toxic lead-free RSW glass for nuclear application is very much required. In this work, a lead-free non-toxic glass based on multi-component Bi2O3--BaO-B2O3-ZnO-As2O3-MgO-Na2O system has been studied with different concentrations of cerium oxide (CeO2) as doping agent for enhancing radiation shielding effect. The optical properties of cerium doped bismuth based lead-free radiation shielding glass after exposure to gamma radiation up to 105 rad have been studied. The densities of glass varied from 4.59 to 5.05 g/cc on varying concentrations of bismuth oxide and boron trioxide in glass system. The transmission properties in visible regions from 400 to 1000 nm are investigated through UV-visible spectrometer after exposure to gamma radiation on developed glass using 60Co Gamma Chamber GC5000. The structure of glass as characterized by Raman spectroscopy, XRD, Photoluminescence (PL), FESEM with EDAX, refractive index measurement and dilatometry test has been correlated with its properties. The developed bismuth glass could find its application as lead-free RSW glass in nuclear reactors as an alternative to high lead containing glass.

Automated summary

In order to design environmentally friendly and non-toxic lead-free glass for nuclear applications, a lead-free glass based on a multi-component Bi2O3-BaO-B2O3-ZnO-As2O3-MgO-Na2O system has been studied with different concentrations of CeO2 to enhance radiation shielding. The optical properties of the cerium-doped bismuth-based lead-free radiation shielding glass were studied after exposure to gamma radiation. The glass structure and properties were analyzed using Raman spectroscopy, XRD, Photoluminescence (PL), FESEM with EDAX, refractive index measurement, and dilatometry test.