Feasibility study of recycled CRT glass on elastic and radiation shielding properties used as x-ray and gamma-ray shielding materials

Recycled glass derived from discarded cathode ray tubes (CRT) was used as a component for (70-x)CRT–30K2O–xBaO glass systems (where x = 0–20 mol%). Temperature dependence of ultrasonic wave velocities was carried out at 4 MHz frequency using pressure-controlled ultrasonic technique. It was found that the velocities decreased gradually as BaO content increased. However, sound velocities increased with increasing temperature. Then, both velocities were applied to estimate their elastic properties. Based on the obtained results, the elastic moduli and micro hardness of studied glasses increased with the amount of BaO and temperature, while their Poisson's ratio remained almost constant. Radiation shielding properties were investigated in terms of μm and HVL at photon energies of 74.23, 97.14, 122, 662, 1173, and 1332 keV by using narrow beam x-ray attenuation and transmission methods. Their theoretical values were also calculated by WinXCom program and compared with ferrite concrete. The results showed better radiation shielding properties for recycled CRT glass in comparison to ferrite concrete. Furthermore, the values obtained from the experiment in this study are in good agreement with the theoretical data. •CRT waste was used as a starting material for fabricate new glass system.•Ultrasonic velocities of the glasses were measured with different temperature.•U and Pb targets were used to generate energies of 74.23 and 97.14 keV.•WinXCom was used to compare the attenuation value obtained from the experiment.•CRT waste is a material of choice for radiation shielding.