The antimony-doped phosphate glasses system's optical, radiation-shielding, and physical properties

The primary focus of this study is the influence of antimony oxide on the radiation-attenuating, optical, and physical characteristics of the (65-x) P₂O₅-15Li₂O-15ZnO-5Bi₂O₃-xSb₂O₃ glass system. The glass samples show a rapid increase in molar volume and density as Sb₂O₃ replaces for P₂O₅. The effectiveness of the glasses to block beams of gamma as well as neutron radiation was examined. Utilizing the newly developed Phy-X/PSD software and X-Com, radiation investigations were carried out and compared with MNCP simulation. The following parameters were examined: fast neutron removal cross section, effective atomic number, half value layer, tenth value layer, linear attenuation coefficient, mass attenuation coefficient, and effective electron density to assess the radiation-shielding capabilities of the current samples. The results showed that the amount of antimony oxide had a substantial impact on the gamma-ray shielding capabilities. For example, for Sb-0.0, Sb-1.0, Sb-2.0, Sb-3.0, and Sb-4.0, the resulting mass attenuation coefficient Gμm values are 0.591, 0.639, 0.685, 0.731, and 0.776 cm²/g at 0.08MeV. Additionally, the acquired data was compared to traditional radiation shields. It is considered that the current glasses will have a possibility as radiation-resistant materials because of their capacity to adjust the antimony oxide quantity to match the intended usage. The absorption spectrum's edge was shifted to higher wavelengths and the gaps in the optical energy (E_OPT) decreased as the amount of antimony grew, according to UV–visible-NIR studies. The corresponding indirect (E_OPT) decreased from 3.789eV to 2.338eV, while the direct (E_OPT) declined from 3.962eV to 2.895eV. It has been demonstrated that non-bridging oxygens, or NBOs, are the cause of the decline in E_OPT. As the amount of Sb³⁺ ions increase in the glass structure, there is a reduction in both the Metallization Criterion (M) and the nonlinear optical susceptibility (χ ⁽³⁾). The optically refractive index (n₀), molar refraction (R_molar), and nonlinear coefficient of refraction (n₂) all rise with increasing Sb³⁺ concentration.