Preparation, physical, structural, and radiation shielding characteristics of SiO₂–TiO₂–B₂O₃–ZrO₂ glass ceramics

Abstract This work aims to explore the addition of ZrO 2 on the morphological, chemical, and radiation shielding characteristics of SiO 2 –TiO 2 –B 2 O 3 (ZR) glass ceramics. A uniform distribution is clearly observed, whereas the sintering deficiency has decreased the addition of Zr. Furthermore, the residual SiO 2 has declined increment with Zr. The Vickers hardness values of ZR glass ceramics were as 687 ± 5.49 HV for ZR4, 698 ± 5.58 HV for ZR5, 712 ± 5.66 HV for ZR6, and 728 ± 5.80 HV for ZR7 under 0.1 kg load. The density ( ρ ) of the samples was obtained by using Archimedes’ Principle as 2.71 ± 0.028, 2.86 ± 0.026, 3.02 ± 0.03, and 3.16 ± 0.031 gr/cm 3 for the ZR4, ZR5, ZR6 and ZR7. The ρ of the ZR glass ceramics enhance with increasing of ZrO 2 . Both linear attenuation coefficient ( μ ) and mass attenuation coefficient ( μ / ρ ) vary as ZR7 > ZR6 > ZR5 > ZR4. The μ / ρ values for the ZR glass ceramics obtained by theoretical calculation are agreement with the μ / ρ values for the ZR glass ceramics obtained by the simulation program. The ZR7 possesses minimum half value layers (HVLs) and mean free path (MFPs), whereas the ZR4 has the greatest HVLs and MFPs. Consequently, the ZR7 has better radiation shielding ability, and the radiation shielding characteristics of ZR glass ceramics are significantly improved by the addition of ZrO 2 .