Sawsan Alashqar, Hatun H. Alsharief, Mona Alhasani, Nawal Alghamdi, Ghadeer H. Albalawi, Walaa Alahmade, Adel M. Binyaseen, Nashwa M. El‐Metwaly
: Sm 2 O 3 -doped calcium phosphate glass-ceramics were synthesized via a wet-hydrothermal route followed by controlled heat treatment to investigate their structural, magnetic, and radiation shielding performance. X-ray diffraction revealed a compositional-dependent structural evolution from a predominantly disordered phosphate matrix to a glass-ceramic structure with increasing Sm 2 O 3 content, accompanied by the formation of Sm-containing crystalline phases. FTIR analysis confirmed significant modifications in phosphate network connectivity through changes in the distribution of Q n structural units. Density and packing investigations demonstrated a two-stage structural behavior, involving initial network depolymerization at low Sm 2 O 3 concentrations followed by structural recompaction at higher dopant levels. Magnetic measurements showed a transition from a weak paramagnetic response in the undoped glass to enhanced paramagnetic behavior with increasing Sm 2 O 3 content. Radiation shielding calculations indicated a marked improvement in gamma-ray attenuation performance upon Sm 2 O 3 incorporation, as evidenced by increased mass attenuation coefficients and effective atomic numbers, along with reduced half-value layer and mean free path values. Overall, the results highlight the effectiveness of Sm 2 O 3 incorporation in tailoring the structure and multifunctional performance of phosphate glass-ceramics, supporting their potential as lead-free materials for radiation shielding applications.