gamma irradiation effects on physical, optical, structural and radiation shielding properties of tellurite-based glasses

Tellurite glasses have been researched for their radiation shielding properties as a potential alternative to lead and lead silica glass, which pose toxicity concerns. the effects of radiation on tellurite glasses are assessed using both physical irradiation and simulation with the phy-x/psd software. glasses with the composition (70-x-y)teo2–20zno–9na2o–1er2o3–(x)tio2–(y)al2o3, were fabricated using the melt-quench method. these glasses were then irradiated with gamma radiation at different doses. characterization techniques, including xrd and uv-vis spectroscopy, along with density measurements, were applied to the glasses both before and after irradiation. the xrd results confirmed that the glass samples were amorphous. uv-vis spectroscopy showed that transmittance decreased as the radiation dose increased. the phy-x/psd simulation program was used to model the radiation properties of the glasses based on their dosage and composition. the simulation results indicated that the half-value layer (hvl) and mean free path (mfp) increased post-irradiation and then remained constant. these findings suggest that tellurite glasses, with their enhanced radiation shielding properties, could be a viable, safer alternative to lead-based glasses for various applications.