Influence of cerium oxide on structural, physical, optical properties, and γ-rays attenuation performance of B₂O₃ + V₂O₅ + BaO glasses

The control of cerium oxide (CeO₂) on the physical, UV–Vis spectroscopy, and γ-rays attenuation performance of freshly formed barium-vanadate-borate glass samples with nominally proportions of (60-x)B₂O₃ + 10V₂O₅ + 30BaO + xCeO₂: x = 0 (BVBCe0.0)–1 (BVBCe1.0) mol% has been evaluated. The conventional melt quenching method was used to manufacture the produced samples. XRD measurements were used to confirm that the prepared glasses were in an amorphous condition. The density of the produced glasses increased from 3.7011 to 3.7554 g/cm³. The introduction of CeO₂ to the glass network decreased the band gap (E_g) values. The optical band gap (E_g) decreased from 2.874 to 2.403 eV and from 2.523 to 2.025 eV for direct and indirect transitions, respectively. The range of Urbach’s energy (E_u) was 0.152 to 0.484 eV. Among all investigated glasses, the BVBCe1.0 sample had the greatest mass- attenuation coefficient (µ_m) values. The values of µ_m at (0.015 MeV, 15 MeV) founded as (29.2829, 0.0294), (29.5640, 0.0295), (29.6100, 0.0296), (29.7724, 0.0296), and (29.8530, 0.0230) cm²/g, for BVBC0.0, BVBC0.25, BVBC0.5, BVBC0.75, and BVBC1.0 samples, respectively. Similar behavior to that of (µ_m) can be seen in the fluctuation of the effective- atomic number (Z_eff) parameter. The half- value layer (HVL) for the current samples has the trend (HVL)_BVBCe0.0 > (HVL)_BVBCe0.5 > (HVL)_BVBCe0.5 > (HVL)_BVBCe0.75 > (HVL)_BVBCe1.0. The glass network’s ability to absorb incident photons improves with higher CeO₂ concentration, resulting in a decrease in HVL.