Luminescence characterization of BioGlass undoped and doped with europium and silver ions

The objective of this study was to investigate the properties of BioGlass, with and without doping with europium and silver, with a specific focus on its potential application in thermoluminescent (TL) and optically stimulated luminescent (OSL) dosimetry. The structural and optical characteristics of the samples were also analyzed using techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical absorption (OA), and fluorescence spectroscopy (FL). An XRD analysis confirmed the amorphous phase of the BioGlass. OA and FL spectra were obtained at room temperature, and characteristic bands of dopant ions were observed which confirmed the incorporation of the Eu³⁺ ions and silver nanoparticles Ag(NP) ion into the BioGlass. The OSL decay curves exhibited a characteristic exponential behavior, with a notable presence of fast and medium decay components; this suggests that the charge traps within the BioGlass samples possess a high photoionization cross section when exposed to blue LEDs, which are commonly used as the light source in OSL readers. Different TL glow peaks with varying shapes of the glow curve were observed when the dopant, the co-dopant, and the concentration of silver were altered in the samples. The TL kinetic parameters were determined, such as the order value, activation energy, and frequency factor, and the OSL parameters for the compound were also analyzed, including an exponential fit to the curves. Based on these initial results, we conclude that BioGlass has the potential for use in radiation dosimetry.