Synthesis and properties of tellurite based glasses containing Na2O, BaO, and TiO2: Raman, UV and neutron/charged particle shielding assessments

In this paper, 75TeO2–5Na2O–20BaO‒xTiO2 (TNB-Tix with x = 0, 05, 10, and 15) glasses were synthesized by the conventional melt-quench technique using analytic grade tellurium oxide (TeO2), barium carbonate (BaCO3), sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) and titanium oxide (TiO2) as starting chemicals. The prepared glasses were studied for their physical features, Raman and UV spectra, and shielding performance against neutrons and charged particles. The optical property was investigated by UV–Vis spectrometry while the structural evolution of the glasses was studied through the Rahman spectra. Charged particles, slow and fast neutrons interaction parameters of the glasses were calculated theoretically and analyzed as well. The prepared glasses were yellowish without any flaws. The mass density of the glasses increased from 5.1 to 5.4 g/cm3 as TiO2 content declined from 15 to 0 mol%. Also, an improvement in the optical bandgap from 2.89 to 3.2 eV was recorded as BaO content increased concerning TiO2 while the refractive index declined from 2.43 to 2.35. Generally, the improvement in the TiO2 content of the glasses produced a rise in the total and scattering cross section of thermal and slow neutrons respectively. In addition, the fast neutron cross section was enhanced from 0.1005 to 0.1015 cm−1 for TNB-Ti00 – TNB-Ti15 glasses. The charged particle shielding parameters showed a strong dependence on the chemical structure of the glass system. The present glass system displayed good properties that could make them useful in optical and shielding applications.