2023/06/01 by Peng Lv, Zhao Sun, Fugang Wang +7 · 2 citations
Materials Science · #Nuclear materials and radiation effects #Glass properties and applications #Radiation Shielding Materials Analysis
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/jace.19213
Abstract We examine the impact of the glass network‐modifier cation field strength (CFS) on ion irradiation‐induced mechanical property changes in borosilicate (BS) glasses for the ternary M 2 O–B 2 O 3 –SiO 2 systems with M = Na, K, Rb and the quaternary [0.5 M (2) O–0.5Na 2 O]–B 2 O 3 –SiO 2 systems with M = Li, Na, K, Rb Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba. 11 B nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments on the as‐prepared BS glasses yielded the fractional population of four‐coordinated B species (B [4] ) out of all B [3] , B [4] groups in the glass network, along with the fraction of B [4] –O–Si linkages out of all B [4] –O–Si/B bonds. Both parameters correlated linearly with the (average) CFS of the M + and/or M (2)+ , Na + cations. Both the nanoindentation‐derived hardness and Young's modulus values of the glasses reduced upon their irradiation by Si 2+ ions, with the property deterioration decreasing linearly with increasing M z + CFS, that is, for higher M z + ⋅⋅⋅O interaction strength. The irradiation damage of the glass network also increased linearly with the fraction of B [4] –O–Si linkages, which are the second weakest in the structure after the M z + ⋅⋅⋅O bonds. Our results underscore the advantages of employing BS glasses with high‐CFS cations for enhancing the radiation resistance for nuclear waste storage.