Electrical transport and structural investigations in Cu2O substituted AgI-Ag2O-V2O5 glass-ceramic nanocomposites

Abstract

Glass-ceramic nanocomposites in Cu2O substituted AgI-(Ag2O)1-x-(Cu2O)x-V2O5 superionic system are prepared by annealing the melt-quenched glasses above the crystallization temperatures. Structural and electrical properties have been investigated. Scanning electron microscopy suggests the existence of fine particles of size 20-200 nm dispersed in the annealed glass matrix. Samples are essentially ionic and stable under conductivity-temperature cycles upto ∼ 160 °C. It is found that the conductivity in the nanocomposites increases with Cu2O substitution and highest conductivity is found to be ∼ 2 × 10−3 Ω−1cm−1 for x = 0.3 at room temperature. Differential scanning calorimetry scans confirm the existence of silver iodide crystallites in all the glass-ceramic compositions.