Examinations of mechanical, and shielding properties of CeO2 reinforced B2O3-ZnF2-Er2O3-ZnO glasses for gamma-ray shield and neutron applications

Haifa A Alyousef; Z A Alrowaili; Mohamed Saad; Hussain Al-Mohiy; Abdulaziz A Alshihri; Kh S Shaaban; M S Al-Buriahi; E A Abdel Wahab

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14435

Examinations of mechanical, and shielding properties of CeO₂ reinforced B₂O₃-ZnF₂-Er₂O₃-ZnO glasses for gamma-ray shield and neutron applications

Heliyon. 2023 Mar 15;9(3):e14435. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14435. eCollection 2023 Mar.

Authors

Haifa A Alyousef¹, Z A Alrowaili², Mohamed Saad^{3

4}, Hussain Al-Mohiy³, Abdulaziz A Alshihri³, Kh S Shaaban⁵, M S Al-Buriahi⁶, E A Abdel Wahab⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, College of Science, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P. O. Box 84428, Riyadh, 11671, Saudi Arabia.
² Physics Department, College of Science, Jouf University, P. O. Box: 2014, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Radiological Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Physics Department, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, Al-Azhar University, P. O. Box 71524, Assiut, Egypt.
⁶ Department of Physics, Sakarya University, Sakarya, Turkey.
⁷ Department of Physics, Al-Azhar University, P. O. Box 71524, Assiut, Egypt.

Abstract

The glass system 75B₂O₃ - 4.5ZnF₂ - 0.5 Er₂O₃- $(20 - x)$ ZnO- $x$ CeO₂, $x$ = (0 ≤ $x$ ≤ 1 mol. %) was manufactured using a melt quenching process, with CeO₂ substituted for ZnO in the glass matrix in concentrations ranging from 0 to 1 mol %. The Makishima-Mackenzie model and sound wave velocity measurements were used to evaluate the mechanical parameters and elastic characteristics of the examined glass system, respectively. The results showed that increasing CeO₂ doping ratio from 0 to 1 mol% increased density, sound velocities, elastic properties, and microhardness from 5.80 to 9.01 GPa. Phy-X/PSD software was employed to assess the effect of replacing ZnO with CeO₂ on shielding capacity. The obtained results revealed that replacing ZnO with CeO₂ enhances shielding characteristics and the manufactured glass may be useful in shielding applications.

Keywords: CeO2; Er2O3 glasses; Mechanical properties; Radiation shielding.