Synthesis, microstructure and radiation protection properties of B2O3–ZnO–K2CO3–PbO ceramic glass system: experimental and theoretical assessment

Abstract

Ceramic glass is a versatile solid-state material engineered to blend the transparency of glass and the thermal stability of ceramics. This fusion has applications in various technological fields with major considerations like radiation protection, durability, heat resistance, and transparency. İn this study, three different B2O3 ceramic glasses comprising varying amounts of ZnO–K2CO3–PbO (BP ceramic glass) were produced, characterized and scanned with electron microscopy. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) was deployed to find the elemental composition of prepared samples. The radiation protection parameters such as Mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), Linear attenuation coefficient (LAC), Mean free path (MFP), Effective electron density (Neff), Tenth value layer (TVL), Half Value layer (HVL), Effective atomic number (Zeff), Exposure buildup factor (EBF), Equivalent atomic number (Zeq) and Energy absorption build-up factor (EABF) of B2O3–ZnO–K2CO3–PbO (BP) glass–ceramic systems were investigated by using Phy-X/PSD software. The result shows that the micropores increase with an increase in PbO. The density of BP1, BP2, and BP3 were 2.57, 2.36, and 2.19, respectively. The MAC of BP ceramic glass varies as BP1 > BP2 > BP3, implying that BP1 with higher density and greater PbO content is more efficient in radiation protection mostly at lower photon energy. The findings of this research present credible insights applicable to high-performance ceramic glass design for radiation protection in radiotherapy, nuclear power plants, radioactive waste confinement and other related applications. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2025