B2O3-CuO-TiO2-CaO-ZnO glasses: Comprehensive evaluation of physical, mechanical, and gamma ray shielding properties

• Novel B 2 O 3 -CuO-TiO 2 -CaO-ZnO glasses prepared via melt quenching technique. • Increasing ZnO raised density and improved glass mechanical strength. • TF and RPE improved with higher ZnO and increased sample thickness. • Zn20 glass exhibited highest Z eff , enhancing low-energy photon absorption. • Zn20 glass showed best gamma ray shielding across energy range 0.015–15 MeV. The density (ρ) of the B 2 O 3 -CuO-TiO 2 -CaO-ZnO glasses increases from 3.460 ± 0.001 to 3.933 ± 0.001 g/cm 3 and the molar volume (V m ) reduces from 20.626to 18.594 cm 3 /mol with increase in the ZnO concentration. The elastic moduli are found to increase from 52.592 to 58.84 GPa, 39.909 to 45.414 GPa, 21.885 to 24.392 GPa and 69.089 to 77.937 GPa for the Young modulus (E), bulk modulus (B), shear modulus (G) and longitudinal modulus (L) respectively with increase in ZnO concentration. The shielding parameters are found to vary with the chemical composition of the samples.The variation of transmission factor (TF) and radiation protection efficiency (RPE) has been studied for the different thicknesses of 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 cm respectively. The thickness of the samples is doubled in each step and it is observed that the TF decreases by 0.92 %, 1.83 % and 2.75 % for the Zn5 sample; 1.83 %, 3.63 % and 5.41 % for the Zn10 sample; 3.63 %, 7.12 % and 10.54 % for the Zn15 sample and 7.12 %, 13.74 % and 19.96 % for the Zn20 sample respectively with respect to the 0.5 cm thickness of the respective samples. It is concluded that the higher ZnO content and increased thickness consistently improve attenuation, particularly evident in Zn20 glass at 4 cm thickness, which offers the most effective shielding against γ-photon radiation. The shielding effectiveness of the Zn20 is also compared to the already existing shielding materials.