Physical, Structural, Mechanical, Thermal, and Gamma Radiation Shielding Characteristics of Gd2O3– B2O3-SiO2-TiO2-Na2O GLASSES

A novel series of borate-based glasses in the system (xGd₂O₃-52.5B₂O₃-17.5SiO₂-5TiO₂-(25-x) Na₂O: where x ranges from 0 to 12 mol%, were successfully synthesized and characterized. The density (ρ), of BSTNG-0 without Gd₂O₃ is 2.945 gcm⁻³, with the addition of Gd₂O₃ from 2 to 12 mol%, the (ρ), values of (BSTNG-2 – BSTNG-12) is between (3.318 and 4.882 gcm⁻³). X-ray diffraction configurations of BSTNG glasses revealed no indication of crystalline bands. It is noteworthy that the BSTNG-12 glass sample, with a value of approximately 101 °C, exhibits the strongest thermal stability against crystallization. As the insertion of Gd₂O₃ the (L,  G,  K,  and Y GPa), values are described as:L increase from 75.3 for BSTNG-0 to 137.4 for BSTNG-12, G increase from 16.3 for BSTNG-0 to 31.45 for BSTNG-12, K increase from 53.48 for BSTNG-0 to 95.5 for BSTNG-12, Y increase from 44.5 for BSTNG-0 to 85.03 for BSTNG-12. Among all the prepared samples, BSTNG-12 demonstrated the most effective gamma radiation shielding performance, attributed to its higher density and enhanced structural compactness.