Abstract
This study examined the efect of copper sulfate content on the structural, physical, and shielding attenuation characteristics of silicate glass–ceramics with composition xCu(SO4)-(100−x)SiO2 where x=10, 25, 50, and 75 mol%. The samples were prepared using the hydrothermal method and investigated using various techniques, including X-ray difraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The X-ray patterns indicated sufcient crystalline phase formation, possibly due to CuSO4 promoting the growth of both CuSiO3 and CuSO4 chalcocyanite crystalline phases. The FTIR spectra revealed some absorption bands attributed to the vibrational modes of distinct functional groups, including SiO4, SO4, and CuO4. Available data of density measurement (ds), molar volume (Vm), packing density (Pd), and free volume (Vf ) have been analyzed. Both density (ds) and molar volume (Vm) of the as-prepared samples were increased with increasing CuSO4 concentrations. The density (ds) was increased from 3.8 to 4.14 g/cm3 , while the molar volume (Vm) was increased from 15.07 to 32.53 cm3 /mol. In contrast, the packing density decreased from 0.89 to 0.77 g/cm3 . A specialized computational tool (the Phys-X/PSD program) was also employed to calculate shielding parameters over an energy range from 0.015 to 15 MeV. The mass attenuation coefcient fuctuated between 0.021- 5.81 cm2 /g for Si and 0.025—30.26 cm2 /g for 75SiCuS samples. The 75SiCuS glass–ceramic sample with a density of 4.141 g/cm3 was found to have superior gamma-ray shielding characteristics due to the highest contribution of copper sulfate.