The Effect of ZnO, MgO, TiO2, and Na2O Modifiers on the Physical, Optical, and Radiation Shielding Properties of a TeTaNb Glass System

Khalid I Hussein; Mohammed S Alqahtani; Khloud J Alzahrani; Fawaz F Alqahtani; Heba Y Zahran; Ali M Alshehri; Ibrahim S Yahia; Manuela Reben; El Sayed Yousef

doi:10.3390/ma15051844

The Effect of ZnO, MgO, TiO₂, and Na₂O Modifiers on the Physical, Optical, and Radiation Shielding Properties of a TeTaNb Glass System

Materials (Basel). 2022 Mar 1;15(5):1844. doi: 10.3390/ma15051844.

Authors

Khalid I Hussein^{1

2}, Mohammed S Alqahtani^{1

3}, Khloud J Alzahrani¹, Fawaz F Alqahtani⁴, Heba Y Zahran^{5

6

7

8}, Ali M Alshehri⁵, Ibrahim S Yahia^{5

6

7

8}, Manuela Reben⁹, El Sayed Yousef^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiological Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Khalid University, Abha 61421, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Medical Physics and Instrumentation, National Cancer Institute, University of Gezira, Wad Medani 2667, Sudan.
³ BioImaging Unit, Space Research Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK.
⁴ Department of Radiological Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Najran University, Najran 1988, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Physics Department, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, Abha 61413, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Research Center for Advanced Materials Science (RCAMS), King Khalid University, Abha 61413, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Nanoscience Laboratory for Environmental and Bio-Medical Applications (NLEBA), Semiconductor Lab., Metallurgical Lab. 2 Physics Department, Faculty of Education, Ain Shams University, Roxy, Cairo 11757, Egypt.
⁸ Laboratory of Nano-Smart Materials for Science and Technology (LNSMST), Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, Abha 61413, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ Faculty of Materials Science and Ceramics, AGH-University of Science and Technology, al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Cracow, Poland.

Abstract

Novel glass samples with the composition 75TeO₂-5Ta₂O₅-15Nb₂O₅-5x (where x = ZnO, MgO, TiO₂, or Na₂O) in mole percent were prepared. The physical, optical, and gamma radiation shielding properties of the glass samples were studied over a wide energy spectrum ranging between 0.015 and 20 MeV. The glasses' UV-vis spectra were utilized to evaluate the optical energy gap and refractive index. Glass samples had a refractive index ranging from 2.2005 to 2.0967. The results showed that the sample doped with zinc oxide (ZnO) recorded the highest density (ρ_glass), molar polarizability (α_m), molar refraction (Rm), refractive index (n), and third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility (χ³) and the lowest optical energy gap (E_opt) among the samples under investigation. When comparing the current glass system with various standard glass shielding materials, the prepared glass system showed superior shielding performance at energies ranging between 40 and 85 keV. These findings indicate that the prepared glass systems can be used in diagnostic X-rays, especially in dental applications.

Keywords: LAC; MAC; PRE; metal oxide; molar polarizability; optical energy gap; refractive index.

Grants and funding

IFP-KKU-2020/7./King Khalid University