Zinc-lead-borate glasses doped with dysprosium oxide: Structure, optical, and radiation shielding features

40PbO + 20ZnO + (40-x) B2O3 + xDy2O3 (where x = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 wt%) glass samples were created via a traditional melt-quenching technique. The degree of structural compactness and the amendment of configurations in the glass network was verified by determining glass density. The linear optical properties of the samples were investigated by measuring U-V optical absorption over a spectral range of 190-900 nm. Both direct and indirect band gaps were found to decrease when the samples were doped with Dy2O3. The Urbach energy (Eu) yields increase as the number of doping materials in the samples increases. The gamma-ray shielding capacity of the samples was evaluated using MCNP-5 code. The simulated data found that the highest linear attenuation coefficient was obtained at 0.015 MeV. This attenuation varied between 2.84.43 and 346.33 cm-1 as the ratio of Dy2O3 rose from 0 to 5 wt%, respectively. Shielding factors like the half-value layer, the radiation protection efficiency and the transmission factor increased as more Dy2O3 was introduced.