In this work, we successfully prepared glasses with the composition 55 BO – (45-x) ZnO – x NaO (x = 0, 5, 10, 15) using the traditional melt quenching procedure. We analyzed the influence of substituting ZnO with NaO at different concentrations on the attenuation of ionizing radiation and the glass density. Different analytical tools, such as XRD, FTIR, and UV-VIS spectroscopy, were used to investigate the crystal structure and optical features of the produced samples. The partial replacement of ZnO by NaO significantly reduces the density (from 3.36 to 2.87 g/cm) and, in contrast, increases the molar volume of the glass (from 22.32 to 25.06 cm/mol). The positions of the main peaks in the FTIR spectra remain relatively unchanged with increasing Na₂O content. The Fermi energy (E) of the glasses increases from 3.16 to 3.45 eV with increasing NaO concentration. Samples with higher NaO exhibit a blue shift in the UV cutoff. The direct and indirect optical band gap energy values (E/E) increase from 3.42 to 3.62 eV and 2.87–3.23 eV, respectively, with increasing NaO concentration. The radiation attenuation performance of these glass samples was examined through evaluation of various parameters like linear and mass attenuation coefficients (LAC/MAC), effective atomic number (Z), and half-value layer (HVL) and tenth-value layer (TVL) in the photon energy range of 10 keV–15 MeV. LAC and MAC values decrease with decreasing ZnO content. The two buildup factors, energy (EBF), and energy absorption (EABF) have been recorded for the different compositions at penetration depths up to 40 mean free paths. Samples with the highest ZnO concentration show the lowest HVL and TVL values at the lowest photon energy (≤2 MeV). Increasing NaO concentration significantly increases both EBF and EABF, with their maxima occurring at 5 MeV. Increasing zinc oxide in the glass improves its radiation shielding ability, suggesting potential applications for zinc alkali borate glasses in radiation protection.

中文翻译：

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熔融淬火硼酸锌钠玻璃：了解 ZnO/Na2O 比率在密度、带隙和辐射衰减中的作用

在这项工作中，我们使用传统的熔融淬火程序成功制备了成分为 55 BO – (45-x) ZnO – x NaO (x = 0, 5, 10, 15) 的玻璃。分析了不同浓度NaO替代ZnO对电离辐射衰减和玻璃密度的影响。使用 XRD、FTIR 和 UV-VIS 光谱等不同的分析工具来研究所生产样品的晶体结构和光学特征。 NaO 部分替代 ZnO 显着降低了密度（从 3.36 至 2.87 g/cm3），相反，增加了玻璃的摩尔体积（从 22.32 至 25.06 cm/mol）。随着 Na2O 含量的增加，FTIR 光谱中主峰的位置保持相对不变。随着 NaO 浓度的增加，玻璃的费米能 (E) 从 3.16 eV 增加到 3.45 eV。 NaO 含量较高的样品在紫外截止处表现出蓝移。随着 NaO 浓度的增加，直接和间接光学带隙能量值 (E/E) 分别从 3.42 增加到 3.62 eV 和 2.87-3.23 eV。通过评估线性和质量衰减​​系数 (LAC/MAC)、有效原子序数 (Z)、半值层 (HVL) 和第十值层 (TVL) 等各种参数来检查这些玻璃样品的辐射衰减性能光子能量范围为 10 keV–15 MeV。 LAC 和 MAC 值随着 ZnO 含量的降低而降低。已记录了不同成分在高达 40 个平均自由程的穿透深度下的两个累积因子：能量 (EBF) 和能量吸收 (EABF)。 ZnO 浓度最高的样品在最低光子能量 (≤2 MeV) 下表现出最低的 HVL 和 TVL 值。增加 NaO 浓度会显着增加 EBF 和 EABF，其最大值出现在 5 MeV 处。玻璃中增加氧化锌可提高其辐射屏蔽能力，表明碱金属硼酸锌玻璃在辐射防护方面的潜在应用。