Impacts of praseodymium (III, IV) oxide on physical, optical, and gamma-ray shielding properties of boro-silicate glasses

The present work aims to study the influence of Pr3+ ions on the structural, optical, and gamma-ray shielding properties of borosilicate glasses. Therefore, a new series of boro-silicate glass reinforced by small concentrations of praseodymium oxide varied between 0 and 1 mol.%. The XRD was utilized to emphasize the amorphous phase of the fabricated glasses. Moreover, UV-Vis Spectroscopy is used to detect the absorbance which is used to evaluate the energy band gap (Eg, eV) and Urbach energy (Eu, eV). The optical results showed that the energy band gap for direct transition decreased from 3.508 eV to 3.086 eV and decreased for the indirect transition from 3.086 eV to 2.879 eV with raising the Pr6O11 concentration in the fabricated glasses. The Monte Carlo simulation method was applied to simulate the average track length of gamma-photons inside the fabricated boro-silicate. The linear attenuation coefficient for the fabricated boro-silicate glasses was enhanced by factors of 2.56 times (at 26 keV), 2.68 (at 103 keV), and 1.05 times (at 511 keV) with raising the Pr6O11 concentration between 0 and 1 mol. %. The result depicts no considerable change in the gamma-ray shielding properties observed at gamma energy >= 511 keV.