Glass fabrication using ceramic and porcelain recycled waste and lithium niobate: physical, structural, optical and nuclear radiation attenuation properties

The ceramic and porcelain industry in the Arab Republic of Egypt annually produces a huge amount of by-product waste. Public health is threatened by the accumulated ceramic and porcelain dust and crumbs. In this study, five different ceramic and porcelain waste samples were recycled in glass form of xLiNbO3-(40-x)Waste and investigated with different LiNbO3 contents of x = 8, 16, 20, 24, 32 wt.% for useful nuclear radiation shielding applications. The amorphous structure of prepared samples is assured with XRD analyses. The radiation protection features of the prepared samples were investigated experimentally and compared with theoretical calculations for photon energies in the range of 81–2614 KeV. Moreover, optical parameters of waste glasses such as absorption coefficient, skin depth, and extinction coefficient have been calculated. The radiation protection factors showed that the Waste32 sample with 32 wt.% LiNbO3 is the best shield out of the fabricated Waste-x samples. The insertion of ceramic and porcelain wastes in the glass system reached 32 wt.%. © 2021 The Author(s).