Role of ZnO reinforced B₂O₃–BaF₂–Pr₆O₁₁–Na₂O glasses: Synthesis, physical, linear optical properties and γ-ray attenuation efficacy

PrZn-glasses were synthesized with nominal compositions of (60-x)B₂O₃ + 24.5BaF + 0.5PrO + 15NaO + xZnO: x = 0 (PrZn0)–10(PrZn10). Physical, linear/nonlinear optical characteristics as well as γ-ray protection competence of the prepared glasses have been investigated. The density changed from 3.31 to 3.61 3.31 g/cm³, while the molar volume (V_m) reduced from 29.95 g/mol of PrZn0 sample to 27.80 g/mol for samples PrZn0 and PrZn10. UV–Vis measurements of the proposed glasses showed that the absorption bands corresponding to 445, 469, 483, and 589 nm are correlated to electronic transitions of ³H₄ → ³P₂, ³H₄ → ³P₁, ³H₄ → ³P₀, and ³H₄ → ¹D₂ exciting levels. The optical energy gap (E_g) for PrZn0 sample was 2.864 eV, while for PrZn10 sample was 2.693 eV. The values of n were increased gradually with ZnO additives. Molar refraction (R_m), electronic polarizability (α_m), reflection loss (R_L) and optical transmission (T) changed significantly as ZnO ratios changed in the glass networks. The sample PrZn10 possessed the maximum mass-attenuation coefficient (MAC). The linear-attenuation (LAC) values differed from (86.050 to 111.546) cm⁻¹ (at 0.015 MeV) and from (0.094 to 0.106) cm⁻¹ (at 15 MeV) for PrZn0 and PrZn10 samples. The half- value layers (HVLs) of the suggested glasses were less than values of others (ordinary concrete and glasses). Therefore, the suggested glasses in the present work can be applied in optical application and as γ-ray attenuation materials.