Optical, gamma ray, and neutron-shielding properties of TeO2–WO3–Bi2O3 glasses

70TeO2–(30−x)WO3–xBi2O3 and 80TeO2–(20−x)WO3–xBi2O3; where x = 0, 5, and 10 mol% glasses have been synthesized. The optical absorption measurements for the prepared glasses were performed using Cary series UV/Vis–spectrophotometer at room temperature via exposure to UV–visible radiations in the range 200–1100 nm. The optical energy bandgap was calculated via Davis and Mott method and found to decrease from 5.00 to 4.73 eV in the indirect transition, while the direct transition revealed a decrease from 5.30 to 4.90 eV. Shielding parameters, such as mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), half-value layer (HVL), and effective atomic number (Zeff) have been investigated via the Phy-X/PSD software online version. The sample mass attenuation coefficient trend followed the order that 80T–20W–0B < 80T–15W–5B < 80T–10W–10B with values equal to 49.49, 61.91, and 64.05 at 0.015 MeV, while found 0.03476, 0.0354, and 0.03596 cm2/g at 5 MeV. Also, the fast neutron removal cross-section (FNRCS, cm−1) has been achieved. The obtained FNRCS for each sample found 0.102, 0.104, 0.107, 0.103, 0.104, and 0.107 cm−1 for samples characterized by (0B, 30W), (5B, 25W), (10B, 20W), (0B, 20W), (5B, 15W), and (10B, 10W), respectively.