Comparative effects of Fe2O3, CuO, TiO2 and CaO on the mechanical and radiation shielding properties of fabricated glasses

This study presents the mechanical and radiation shielding properties of the metal oxides (Fe₂O₃, CuO, TiO₂, and CaO) on 10Na₂O–20PbO–60B₂O₃–10MO glasses. The first half of the study introduced mechanical parameters from the Makishima–Mackenzie model, meaning the hardness increased to 5.0 GPa due to TiO₂, while the flexibility increased (σ = 0.264) because of the Fe₂O₃ oxide. The radiation shielding portion of the study quantified the values of the lead-based 10Na₂O–20PbO–60B₂O₃–10MO glasses containing the metal oxides. Radiation shielding investigations, using a NaI(Tl) detector, have shown that the linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) dropped by approximately 60 % with the increase of photon energy from 0.511 to 1.332 MeV. The energy-dependent trend demonstrated that CuO-doped glasses yielded the highest LAC at 0.511 MeV (0.42 ± 0.09 cm⁻¹) while Fe₂O₃-doped glasses had the highest LAC at the higher energies with LAC's of 0.297 and 0.203 ± 0.03 cm⁻¹ at 0.662 and 1.332 MeV, respectively. The half-value layer varied from ∼1.6 cm at 0.511 MeV to ∼3.8 cm at 1.332 MeV, depending on the dopant. These outcomes indicated that Fe₂O₃ and CuO were shown to be the best oxides, which both improved mechanical hardness and γ-ray attenuation, and which may be considered suitable for advanced radiation shielding applications.