Probing the synergistic impacts of different lead halides in MoO3-Borobismuthate glass systems for improved radiation-blocking and rigidity features

• Radiation shielding of three lead halide based glasses. • Effect of lead halides on mechanical properties of glasses. • Correlation between radiation shielding parameters and mechanical features. The work explores the effect of three lead halides, PbX 2 (X = F, Cl, Br), on the radiation-shielding and mechanical properties of Bi 2 O 3 -MoO 3 -B 2 O 3 glasses. These high-density glasses may be potential candidates for radiation-based technologies. The analysis of the results shows that in the photon energy ranges of 0.015–15 MeV, the PbBr 2 -rich samples with 20 mol% present high shielding parameters such as linear attenuation coefficient (LAC = 468 cm −1 ), mass attenuation coefficient (MAC = 95.6 cm 2 /g) at 0.015 MeV, effective atomic number (Z eff = 88.5), and electron density (N eff = 8.96 electron/cm 3 ) at 0.1 MeV. Furthermore, the increase in the concentrations of PbX 2 , particularly in the glass containing 20 mol% of PbBr 2 , presents a good correlation between density and enhanced cross-link density. This relationship reflects an increment in the calculated elastic moduli through two theoretical models, indicating improved mechanical properties by incorporating various concentrations of PbX 2 with adjustments based on halide type.