Impact of bismuth concentration on radiation shielding and physical properties of quaternary cerium-doped borotellurite glasses: a comprehensive simulation study using Phy-X, XCom, and NgCal

Abstract

Abstract The present study investigates the effect of bismuth oxide (Bi 2 O 3 ) concentration on the physical and radiation shielding properties of cerium-doped borotellurite glasses. X-ray diffraction confirms the amorphous nature of all prepared samples. FTIR analysis reveals characteristic bands at 600–642 cm⁻ 1 and 1111–1478 cm⁻ 1 , associated with TeO 4 and borate structural units, respectively. Raman spectra show Bi-related vibrations at 402–481 cm −1 and 837–868 cm −1 , corresponding to O–Bi–O linkages and BiO 3 units, respectively. Increasing Bi 2 O 3 content leads to an overall increase in density from 4.444 to 6.237 g/cm 3 . The nonlinear molar volume trend is due to the competition between network compaction and structural expansion. This competing effect is also reflected in optical packing density and oxygen molar volume. Radiation shielding parameters were evaluated using XCom and Phy-X over an energy range of 0.001–100 000 MeV, with discrete analyses at 0.662, 1.173, and 1.332 MeV using XCom, Phy-X, and NgCal. The photoelectric effect, Compton scattering, and pair production dominate at low, intermediate, and high energies, respectively. The 25BiCe glass exhibits the highest mass attenuation coefficient ( $$\text{M}\text{A}\text{C}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mtext>MAC</mml:mtext> </mml:math> ), while 0BiCe shows the lowest $$\text{M}\text{A}\text{C}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mtext>MAC</mml:mtext> </mml:math> , confirming the role of Bi 2 O 3 in enhancing photon attenuation. Relative deviations between NgCal and XCom remain below 0.008, while between Phy-X and XCom show slightly higher deviations up to 0.112. The 25BiCe sample demonstrates the best shielding performance, comparable to commercial lead-based glasses. Correlation analysis shows a strong positive relationship between density and $$\text{M}\text{A}\text{C}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mtext>MAC</mml:mtext> </mml:math> , while polaron radius correlates positively with mean free path.