AC conductivity analysis for a metal core-silver orthosilicate shell nanostructure

Abstract

Nanocomposites containing silver particles of diameter of 20 nm with silver orthosilicate crystals forming the shell with thickness around 21 nm closely packed in a silicate glass were prepared. The ac conductivity of samples subjected to different heat treatments were measured over the frequency range of 100 Hz to 6 MHz in the temperature range of 500-570 K. The data were analyzed by the Macdonald model based on Kohlrausch-related frequency response formalism designated as CK0. The reference system was taken as the glass-crystal composite containing a lithium orthosilicate crystalline phase. The shape parameter β_o for the reference system was found to be 0.33, whereas that for the nanocomposites was extracted to be 0.46. The former implied a one-dimensional lithium ion motion along the grain boundaries of the orthosilicate crystals, whereas the latter indicated that there was a one-dimensional silver ion motion in an effective two-dimensional structure in the shell surface because of a high stress condition along the radial direction of the core-shell composite.