Correlation of structure and electrical conductivity of CdI₂ doped silver borophosphate glass and nanocomposite

Abstract

The structural and electrical properties of some CdI2 doped silver borophosphate glasses and glass nanocomposites of compositions 0.2CdI₂ - 0.8(0.50Ag₂O - 0.50(xB₂O₃ - (1 - x)P₂O₅)), prepared by the melt quenching method, are reported in this paper. The X-ray diffraction study reveals the amorphous nature for the compositions x = 0-0.80 and partial crystalline nature for the composition x = 1. However, the transmission electron microscopic studies reveal the presence of some crystalline phases such as CdI₂, β-AgI, and AgPO₃ for x = 0-0.80 and β -AgI, Ag₃BO₃, and CdI2 for x = 1. The FTIR spectra reveal that the BO₄ units are predominant for x = 0.20-0.50. The BO₃ unit appears beyond the composition x = 0.20, and its population increases with the increase of B₂O₃ content. The conductivity of the compositions increases (for x = 0-0.60), and the activation energy decreases with progressive substitution of B₂O₃ in the glass network. However, the conductivity almost saturates for B₂O₃ rich compositions (for x = 0.60-1). The ion dynamics of the compositions as well as other physical properties such as density, glass transition temperature, etc., have been correlated with the compositional variation of BO₄ and BO₃ units.