CeO₂ additive to bismo-borate glasses: synthesis, structure, physical characteristics, and radiation protection competence

Adding CeO₂ to bismo-borate heavy metal oxide glasses to use in the field of nuclear safety and radiation protection is investigated. To this end, glass samples with the composition: 60B₂O₃ + 20Na₂O + 15ZnO + 5Bi₂O₃ + XCeO₂ with X = 0.0 (Ce-0.0), 0.25 (Ce-0.25), 0.5 (Ce-0.5), 0.75 (Ce-0.75), and 0.9 (Ce-0.9) mol% glasses were prepared using the melt quenching route. The structure, physical parameters, and γ-ray protection features in the photon energy range (0.015 ≤ γE ≤ 15 MeV) of the prepared Ce-X glasses have been evaluated. The non-crystalline state of the Ce-X glasses was confirmed by XRD measurements. The density (ρ) of the Ce-X glasses varied from 3.158 to 3.289 g cm⁻³ as CeO₂ content varied from 0.0 to 0.9 mol%. Both molar volume (V_m) and oxygen molar volume (V_O) decreased slightly from 28.40 to 27.49 cm³ mol⁻¹ and from 12.35 to 11.97 cm³ mol⁻¹. The oxygen packing density (OPD) gradually increased from 81.00 to 83.57 g atm l⁻¹. The linear absorption coefficient ( \(\mu\) $\mu$ ) possessed the order: Ce-0.0 < Ce-0.25 < Ce-0.5 < Ce-0.75 < Ce-0.9. The sample coded as Ce-0.9 (highest content of CeO₂) possessed the minimum values of half-(HVL), tenth-(TVL) value layer, and mean free path (MFP). The observed results validated the superiority of the suggested Ce-X glasses as γ-ray shields.