An extensive assessment of the impacts of BaO on the mechanical and gamma-ray attenuation properties of lead borosilicate glass

The current work deals with the synthesis of a new glass series with a chemical formula of 5Al₂O₃-25PbO-10SiO₂-(60-x) B₂O₃-xBaO; x was represented as 5, 10, 15, and 20 mol%. The FT-IR spectroscopy was used to present the structural modification by rising the BaO concentration within the synthesized glasses. Furthermore, the impacts of BaO substitution for B₂O₃ on the fabricated borosilicate glasses were investigated using the Makishima-Mackenzie model. Besides, the role of BaO in enhancing the gamma-ray shielding properties of the fabricated boro-silicate glasses was examined utilizing the Monte Carlo simulation. The mechanical properties evaluation depicts a reduction in the mechanical moduli (Young, bulk, shear, and longitudinal) by the rising of the Ba/B ratio in the fabricated glasses. Simultaneously, the micro-hardness boro-silicate glasses was reduced from 4.49 to 4.12 GPa by increasing the Ba²⁺/B³⁺ ratio from 0.58 to 3.18, respectively. In contrast, the increase in the Ba/B ratio increases the linear attenuation coefficient, where it is enhanced between 0.409 and 0.448 cm^-1 by rising the Ba²⁺/B³⁺ ratio from 0.58 to 3.18, respectively. The enhancement in linear attenuation coefficient decreases the half-value thickness from 1.69 to 1.55 cm and the equivalent thickness of lead is also reduced from 3.04 to 2.78 cm, at a gamma-ray energy of 0.662 MeV. The study shows that the increase in the Ba²⁺/B³⁺ ratio enhances the radiation shielding capacity of the fabricated glasses however, it slightly degrades the mechanical properties of the fabricated glasses. Therefore, glasses with high ratios of Ba²⁺/B³⁺ have high gamma-ray shielding ability to be used in hospitals as a shielding material.