Abstract
In this report, transparent glasses of borate-based glasses with molecular formula xNb(2)O(5)-25CaO-60B(2)O(3)-15ZnO: x = 0.0 (Nb0.0), 0.2 (Nb0.2), 0.4 (Nb0.4), 0.6 (Nb0.6), 0.8 (Nb0.8), and 1.0 (Nb1.0) mol% have been synthesized using the melt-quenching technique. Physical as well as various elasto-mechanical moduli of the proposed glass systems have been reported. Dielectric spectroscopy of glasses has been investigated in the frequency range from 50 Hz < f < 5 MHz at room temperature. Photon attenuation capacities of Nb0.0-Nb1.0 glass samples have been tested using Phy-X/PSD software. Density (3.261-3.312 g.cm(-3)) and molar volume (20.849-21.335) of the proposed glasses gradually enhanced as Nb5+ ions increased in the glasses network. The elastic-mechanical moduli are enhanced by increasing Nb5+ ions. The dielectric parameters including their loss (tan delta) were greatly enhanced by introduction of Nb5+ ions into the glasses network. Values of the mass-attenuation constant (mu(m)) are gradually surged with as a function of the Nb5+ ions molar fraction. It is found that, the Nb1.0 glass sample (with highest Nb2O5 content) achieved the maximum mu(m) and the glass sample encodes as Nb0.0 (with lowest Nb2O5 content) has the least values of mu(m) compared with other glasses. Both half (T-1/2) and tenth (T-1/10) value layers as radiation-shielding parameters for the proposed glass systems obeyed the following sequence: (T-1/2,T-1/10)(Nb0.0)> (T-1/2, T-1/10)(Nb0.2)> (T-1/2,T-1/10)(Nb0.4)> (T-1/2,T-1/10)(Nb0.6)> (T-1/2,T-1/10)(Nb0.8)> (T-1/2,T-1/10)(Nb1.0). The findings confirm that the Nb0.1 glass has the finest radiation-protection coefficients among all studied glass samples. In addition, the current glasses (Nb0.0-Nb1.0) are suitable as radiation-shielding material than OC, HSC, and ILC concrete.