Synergistic effect of serpentine mineral on Li2B4O7 glasses: optical, structural and nuclear radiation shielding properties

The hypothesis of the present investigation underlined with determination of possible synergistic effects of serpentine mineral additive on Li2B4O7 glasses. A group of Li2B4O7 glasses with serpentine mineral additive were synthesized by melt-quenching technique. The elemental analysis of two different Li2B4O7 glasses with different amount of serpentine additive is tested using energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) technique. Next, the surface morphology of synthesized serpentine glasses was investigated with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The optical features of synthesized serpentine glasses were determined along the wavelength ranged from 200 to 900 nm. Lastly, nuclear radiation shielding properties of Li2B4O7 glasses with serpentine mineral additive were determined for gamma rays, neutrons and charged particles. MCNPX (version 2.6.0) general-purpose Monte Carlo code has been utilized for mass attenuation coefficients calculations. The results showed that the spectra are decreasing with wavelength with an observed peak centered at 450 nm. Moreover, it is observed that serpentine mineral additive improves the gamma protecting capacity of Li2B4O7 glasses. It was also noticed that the addition of serpentine mineral also enhanced the neutron and charged particle absorption of the glasses.