https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-025-06947-0
Regular Article
ZnO-enhanced barium borate glasses: insights into optical, mechanical, and radiation shielding properties
1
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Isra University, Amman, Jordan
2
Renewable Energy and Environmental Technology Center, University of Tabuk, 47913, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
3
Physics Department, Faculty of Science, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
4
Department of Studies in Physics, Davangere University, Shivagangotri, Davanagere, Karnataka, India
Received:
16
June
2025
Accepted:
9
October
2025
Published online:
28
October
2025
The purpose of this research is to investigate the possibility of using barium borate glasses that have been doped with zinc oxide (ZnO) to concurrently improve their optical and radiation shielding capabilities. Several glasses with compositions of B2O3–TiO2–BaO–ZnO–La2O3 were manufactured using a melting-quenching procedure. A considerable rise in density was brought about because of the increase in ZnO. Increasing the concentration of ZnO resulted in a drop in the optical band gap, which went from 3.728 to 3.547 eV (direct) and from 3.545 to 3.273 eV (indirect). Of note is the fact that the addition of ZnO resulted in an increase in the refractive index from 2.264 to 2.327. As the amount of ZnO in the material increased, the elastic moduli dropped. The radiation shielding characteristics were analyzed with the Phy-X/PSD software, and the results showed that the glass with a concentration of 32 mol% of ZnO (Zn32La1) had the highest mass and linear attenuation coefficients (GMAC and GLAC), as well as the lowest half-value layer (GHVL) and mean free path (GMFP), across a broad energy range of 0.015–15 MeV. According to the findings, the insertion of ZnO into the glass results in a considerable enhancement of the glass’s optical characteristics, as well as its radiation attenuation efficiency. As a result, the glass becomes an good effective solution for advanced radiation protection applications.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
