Structural and functional modifications in CeO2-doped borosilicate glasses: insights into dielectric behavior and gamma radiation attenuation

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to examine how the insertion of cerium oxide (CeO2) impacts the borosilicate glass system’s structure, dielectric, as well as radiation attenuation characteristics. As the CeO2 quantities expand from 0.0 to 1.0 mol%, the glass’s density gradually rises between 2.9517 and 3.1526 g.cm− 3. Additionally, the structural ordering process surrounding the SiO4 within a glass structure is formed, and the proportion of linked boron (trigonal as well as tetrahedral cations) increases. As CeO2 concentrations increase, the absolute value of a dielectric constant (ε’) decreases. Ce-1.0, the sample with the highest Cerium content, has a small ε’ in comparison to other Cerium contents, making it excellent for packing materials because of its fast travel speed. The Phy-X program was used examine, GZeq, GEBF, GEABF, GCef, GTF, and GRPE for five specimens of glass with different CeO2 concentrations across a wide energy range (30–2000 keV). Ce-1.0 was found to have the highest GZeq and the lowest GEBF and GEABF values. It was confirmed that raising the CeO2 content improved the glass’s defense against nuclear radiation because there are more high Z numbers (Ce-58) which raises the chance of gamma-ray attenuation.