Li2O-K2O-B2O3-PbO glass system: Optical and gamma-ray shielding investigations

A Li2O-K2O-B2O3-PbO glass system has been synthesized through the melt quenching technique. The indirect bandgap energies were obtained from the recorded UV–visible spectra. It is confirmed that as the concentration of PbO increases, the indirect bandgap energies increases. While the refractive index, and the optical dielectric constant ([Formula presented]) decrease. The reflection loss (RL), as well as optical transmission coefficient (T) of the glasses, follow the opposite trend with PbO content. While the molar refraction (Rm) and electronic polarizability (αm) increase, the electronic polarizability (αe) decreases as the mol percentage of PbO rise in the glass matrix. The metallization (M) is <1, hence, the investigated glass samples show non-metallic nature. On the other hand, replacing B2O3 with PbO oxide increases the mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) of the samples, which in turn increases their radiation shielding effectiveness. The more B2O3 oxide is replaced with PbO oxide, the greater the effect in elevating their capabilities in shielding radiation especially for low gamma energies. The glass samples under investigation outperformed most of the radiation shields that were previously fabricated. With the increase of PbO levels, the half-value layer reduces due to the rise in the density of the samples. The Pb20 sample had the lowest TVL at all tested energies, demonstrating that it is the most efficient for radiation shielding applications.