Abstract
Bismuth borate glasses, with composition (40B2O3–20Bi2O3 – (40-x) ZnO) – xCaO: 0≤ x ≤ 20 wt%), were prepared with a melt quenching technique. The glasses were coded as BBZCa0.0 (x=0) to BBZCa20.0 (x=20). The non-crystalline state of the samples was controlled by XRD spectra. Densities (ρglass) of the prepared samples were calculated by Archimedes' conventional principle and the corresponding molar volumes (Vm) were calculated at room temperature. The optical absorption spectroscopy was recorded in UV–vis range of 190-1100 nm wavelength. Accordingly, the optical energy band gaps (EOptical) for all glasses were examined by Tauc's, absorbance spectrum fitting (ASF), and derivative absorbance spectrum fitting (DASF) methods. Additionally, the refractive index (n), optical conductivity (σoptical), and electrical conductivity (σelectrical) have been investigated. Results demonstrate that the (EOptical) decreases, while the (σoptical) and (σelectrical) increase with the enhancement of CaO content in the glasses. γ-ray shielding characteristics for the proposed samples were studied by evaluating the mass attenuation coefficients (MAC) for the glass samples between 0.015-15 MeV photon energies with the help of WinXCOM software. Also, effective atomic number (Zeff), and the mean free path (MFP) were evaluated. It is found that the γ-rays shielding performance of the BBZCa0.0 glass sample was superior compared with the other glasses.