Effect of BaO on lead free zinc barium tellurite glass for radiation shielding materials in nuclear application

•Radiation shielding properties of TeO – ZnO – BaO ternary glasses were evaluated.•Addition of BaO in exchange of TeO2 content enhances their shielding probability.•Mass attenuation coefficient of these glasses were assessed at different energies.•Pb-free optical transparent glass was obtained for better shielding applications. In this study, the zinc barium tellurite glasses (ZBaT) synthesized and inspected their radiation defensive mechanism and structural behavior. Glass composition (90-x) TeO2 - 10 ZnO - xBaO, where 25≤ x ≤ 35 (mol%) was prepared using the melt quenching technique and glass-forming pseudo-ternary diagram was discussed. Addition of BaO enhances the polarization in the present glasses there by it increases the bond length hence glass network expands resulting in volume. The mass attenuation coefficient (μm) of ZBaT glasses have been evaluated at various energies via Compton scattering technique. The results found that the μm, effective atomic number and effective electron density decrease with the increase in γ-ray energies which is in a good agreement with theoretical values attained using Geant4 and WinXCOM. At 25 mol% BaO content the glass samples show less mean free path (MFP) which were compared with other standard shield defensive materials. The obtained results reveal that the formation of non-bridging oxygens increased with higher concentration of BaO. The transmission spectra of the prepared glasses displayed optical light transparency thereby demonstrating their efficient role being transparent window when used as radiation defensive material without Pb component proving them as eco-friendly for environment.