Abstract
In this study, new glasses with a nominal composition of 40Bi(2)O(3)-10Na(2)O-(50-x)B2O3-xCu(2)O (where 0 > x > 6 wt%), were fabricated by using the standard melt-quench technique. A Bruker XRD diffractometer model AXS D8 Advance was carried out to investigate the amorphous state for the fabricated glasses. The optical features such as bandgap (E-g), molar refraction (R-m), Urbach energy (E-u), metallization principle (M), molar polarizability (alpha(m)), optical transmission (T), and reflection loss (R-L), were investigated by using the ultraviolet spectrum. The radiation shielding capability of the fabricated glasses was estimated by using FLUKA code and the Phy-X software for varied photon energies. The mass attenuation coefficient (mu/rho) and other related factors such as half value layer (HVL) and effective atomic number (Z(eff)) were calculated. The results revealed that there is a notable effect of Cu2O on the optical properties of the glasses involved. As the Cu2O content changed from 0 to 6 mol%, the density of the fabricated glasses increased from 5.128 to 6.214 g/cm(3) and the optical transmission decreased from 0.697 to 0.655. On the other hand, the Cu2O content enhanced the nuclear-shielding against gamma-rays. The shielding capability of the fabricated glasses was compared with many samples in terms of MFP. The fabricated glasses showed superior features to apply for optical and gamma shielding applications.