Influence of Li₂O Incrementation on Mechanical and Gamma-Ray Shielding Characteristics of a TeO₂-As₂O₃-B₂O₃ Glass System

• Main Authors: Aljawhara H. Almuqrin, Mohamed Y. Hanfi, M. I. Sayyed, K. G. Mahmoud, Hanan Al-Ghamdi, Dalal Abdullah Aloraini
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-07-01
• Series: Materials
• Subjects: mechanical properties; shielding properties; elastic moduli; Monte Carlo simulation
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/14/14/4060

According to the Makishema–Mackenzie model assumption, the dissociation energy and packing density for a quaternary TeO₂-As₂O₃-B₂O₃-Li₂O glass system were evaluated. The dissociation energy rose from 67.07 to 71.85 kJ/cm³, whereas the packing factor decreased from 16.55 to 15.21 cm³/mol associated with the replacement of TeO₂ by LiO₂ compounds. Thus, as a result, the elastic moduli (longitudinal, shear, Young, and bulk) were enhanced by increasing the LiO₂ insertion. Based on the estimated elastic moduli, mechanical properties such as the Poisson ratio, microhardness, longitudinal velocity, shear velocity, and softening temperature were evaluated for the investigated glass samples. In order to evaluate the studied glasses’ gamma-ray shield capacity, the MCNP-5 code, as well as a theoretical Phy-X/PSD program, were applied. The best shielding capacity was achieved for the glass system containing 25 mol% of TeO_2, while the lowest ability was obtained for the glass sample with a TeO₂ concentration of 5 mol%. Furthermore, a correlation between the studied glasses’ microhardness and linear attenuation coefficient was performed versus the LiO₂ concentration to select the glass sample which possesses a suitable mechanical and shielding capacity.