Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2021) 136: 583
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-021-01582-x

Regular Article

Structural, optical, and radiation shielding features for a series of borate glassy system modified by molybdenum oxide

¹ Medical Imaging Department, Applied Medical Sciences Faculty, Al Azhar University-Gaza, Gaza, Palestine
² Department of Chemistry, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, 31261, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
³ Department of Physics, College of Science, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, P.O. Box 1982, 31441, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
⁴ Basic and Applied Scientific Research Center, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, P.O. Box 1982, 31441, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
⁵ Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Isra University, Amman, Jordan
⁶ Department of Nuclear Medicine Research, Institute for Research and Medical Consultations (IRMC), Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU), P.O. Box 1982, 31441, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
⁷ Physics Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, 31261, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
⁸ Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia

^c mhsabumhareb@iau.edu.sa

Received: 3 March 2021
Accepted: 18 May 2021
Published online: 26 May 2021

Abstract

This work aims to explore the radiation shielding and structural features for a new glass composition 10SrO–20CdO–xMoO₃–(70 − x) B₂O₃ where 0 ˂ x < 20 mol% that fabricated via conventional melt-quench method. The amorphous behavior for vitreous samples was obtained by X-ray diffraction (XRD), while the vibration for functional group BO₃ and BO₄ was achieved by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). FTIR results appear the transformation from BO₄ to BO₃ with the addition of MoO₃. Moreover, several optical and physical features were defined for evaluation of the glass structure. On the other hands, the gamma and neutron shielding parameters were defined by utilizing the Phy-X program. The impact of MoO₃ is evident on the neutron and gamma shielding properties. The fast neutron removal cross-section (Σ_R) and mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) showed a progressive enhancement with adding the MoO₃ instead of B₂O₃. In conclusion, adding the MoO₃ to the glass system enhanced the neutron and gamma shielding features, so it is recommended to use this glass system as a radiation shielding substance.