Physical, elasto-mechanical and neutron-radiation shielding of barium borate glasses with distinct PtO₂ concentrations

This article investigates the impact of PtO₂ on the elastic, physical, and radiation protective properties of B₂O₃-based glasses in the composition of 25ZnO-25BaO-(50-x)B₂O₃-xPtO₂, where x ranges from 0.0 (Pt0.0) to 1.0 (Pt1.0) mol%. The density (ρ) increased from 3.05 to 4.10 g.cm-3 but the oxygen-molar volume (OMV) decreased from 15.40 to 12.40 cm3/mol as the mol% of [Pt⁴⁺] increased. The elastic moduli exhibited a positive correlation with the concentration of PtO₂ in the glass network. The linear-absorption coefficient (LAC) values in the energy spectrum being studied were arranged in the following sequence: (LAC)Pt0.0 < (LAC)Pt0.1 < (LAC)Pt0.2 < (LAC)Pt0.3 < (LAC)Pt0.5 < (LAC)Pt0.75 < (LAC)Pt1.0. Furthermore, there was an increase in the mass-absorption (MAC) coefficient. As the quantity of PtO₂ grew, the studied glasses exhibited a drop in their half-value (HVL) layer. By comparing the HVL values of the current samples with standard glasses, it was determined that the PtO₂-based samples possess a photon protection capacity similar to that of RS-360 and RS-520 glasses. The effective removal cross section (ΣR) of Pt-x glasses was determined and observed to exhibit a similar pattern as the oxygen packing density (OPD).