Fabrication of ZrO2 Doped (30-x)BaO-30TiO2-40SiO2-xZrO2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 6) Glasses: Enhanced Physical, Optical and Radiation Shielding Characteristics for Optoelectronics Applications

Herein, this study primarily investigates the structural, physical, optical properties, and radiation shielding capabilities of the fabricated glass samples. The bulk (pellet) glass samples with compositions (30-x)BaO-30TiO₂-40SiO₂-xZrO₂ (0 ≤ x ≤ 6), were fabricated using a traditional melt-quenching technique. Further, XRD was performed to validate the amorphous state of the prepared glasses. Density of all the glass samples was calculated using mass-volume formula and observed to be in the range of 3.613–3.821 g/cm³. Additionally, to examine the optical behavior, UV-visible spectroscopy was performed. Indirect band gap energies were estimated from the Tauc’s plots, and found to be 4.191, 4.093, 4.042, and 3.841 eV for glasses BTSZ0, BTSZ2, BTSZ4, and BTSZ6 respectively. Moreover, refractive index and optical dielectric constant were found to be increased such as 2.134–2.201 and 4.554–4.846 with increasing content of ZrO₂. Furthermore, radiation shielding behaviour was studied using “Phy-X/PSD” software within the energy range of 0.015-15 MeV. At 0.02 MeV, BTSZ6 (24BaO-30TiO₂-40SiO₂-6ZrO₂) glass exhibited the maximum values for MAC, LAC, HVL, and TVL are 18.078 cm²/g, 69.072 cm^− 1, 0.01 cm, and 0.033 cm respectively. The BTSZ6 glass, with 6% ZrO₂, demonstrated superior gamma radiation protection and excellent optical and physical properties, making it highly suitable for optoelectronic, photonics, and radiation safety applications.