Physical, mechanical, and radiation shielding studies: effects of glass network and ion valance states of Ti3+ and Mo5+ on TiO2-doped lead molybdenum borate glasses

Effects on mechanical and γ-ray shielding competence of TiO₂-based glasses of chemical composition: 30PbO⋅4MoO₃⋅(66 − z)B₂O₃⋅zTiO₂ (0.0 < z < 2.0 mol%) was calculated in this report. The glass density was found to increase in the range of 4.650–4.696 g/cm³ concurrent with a decline in the oxygen molar volume (OMV) from 10.633 to10.547 cm³/mol when [Ti⁴⁺] molar fraction is increased in the glass samples. The Gibbs free energy was found to be between 20.874 and 22.586 kJ/cm³ and was found to be influenced by TiO₂ concentration in these glasses and on the valance states of Ti³⁺ and Mo⁵⁺. The affinity of mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) values (0.039 < MAC < 6.198 g/cm³) in the examined photon energy domain 0.015 < E < 15.0 MeV has the following chronological sorting: MAC_T0 < MAC_T2 < MAC_T4 < MAC_T6 < MAC_T8 < MAC_T10 < MAC_T15 < MAC_T20. The half-value-layer (HVL) trend of Mo-glasses was balanced against two standard RS-glass systems and discovered to possess a less γ-ray shielding competence as RS-(360, 520) or concrete. Also, we found that when the [Ti³⁺]/[Mo⁵⁺] ratio exceeds 0.8 mol%, then both ions participate in the studied properties via de-polymerization of the glass network. These outcomes revealed that the safety effectiveness against radiation and physic-mechano-properties can be synchronized for diverse purposes.