Evaluation of optical, and radiation shielding features of New phosphate-based glass system

The present investigation aims to fabricate and report the optical, and radiation shielding features of a novel phosphate-based glasses. The composition of the glasses described by the equation xBi2O3+20CaO+10K2O+(30-x)Na2O+40P2O5, x=0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 mol%. The density of the fabricated samples was found in the range of 2.333 to 3.518 g/cm3. The theoretical calculations were used to calculate some physical properties like ionic concentration, the volume of phosphorus atoms, average phosphorous-phosphorus separation, polaron radius, and inter-nuclear distance. Moreover, the UV-Vis spectra were recorded using the spectrophotometer in a wavelength range between 200 and 1100 nm. The refractive index increased from 2.405 to 2.455, the dielectric constant increased from 5.784 to 6.029, while the direct band-gap decreased from 3.633 to 3.517 eV. The gamma-ray shielding characteristics were evaluated using the monte Carlo simulation in the energy interval between 0.276 and 1.458 MeV. The highest LAC achieved at 0.276 MeV and is enhanced from 0.2565 to 0.80625 cm-1, raising the Bi2O3 concentrations between 0 and 10 mol%, respectively.