Recycling of optical borosilicate waste glasses by Y2O3 doping for radiation shielding applications

Abstract

In the present study, borosilicate glass-ceramics doped with Y2O3 were prepared and characterised for their structure and shielding prowess. Borosilicate waste glasses doped with Yttrium as a rare earth element from Y2O3 were prepared through the cold isostatic press method. The glass-ceramics had the chemical formula 81SiO(2)-12B2O3-4Na(2)O-3Al(2)O(3)-XY2O3, where X = 0, 10, 20% by weight. The structure of the prepared glasses was studied by the X-ray diffraction method while the density and hardness of the sample were measured experimentally. The ability of the glasses to absorb gamma-ray photons, moderate fast neutrons, and thermal neutrons was estimated from Monte Carlo simulations and established theoretical calculations. Samples containing 0% and 10% weight fraction exhibited mainly glassy structures, while the XRD spectrum of the sample containing 20% Y2O3 by weight displayed a glass-ceramics structure. The Vickers hardness values were calculated as 453, 501 and 551 HV under a 0.5 kg load for Y2O3 content of 0, 10, and 20 wt%. The density of the pristine borosilicate glass was 2.03 gcm(-3). The addition of 10% and 20% by weight of Y2O3 increased the density by 9.85% and 18.07%, respectively. The mass attenuation coefficient values show strong energy fluctuations from 0.02046 to 5.18560 cm(2)/g for BS1, 0.02179-6.49902 cm(2)/g for BSY1, and 0.02313-7.81340 cm(2)/g as E decreases from 15 MeV to 15 keV. In addition, increasing the Y2O3 weight proportion in the samples increases photon buildup. The introduction of Y2O3 into the pristine borosilicate glass was found to increase the removal and total cross-sections for fast and moderated neutrons, respectively. The glass-ceramics demonstrated attributes useful for radiation absorption applications.