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Title: Structural and fast ion transport properties of glassy and amorphous materials

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5262245· OSTI ID:5262245

This research has dealt with ionic conductivity in two classes of electrolytes. Solid inorganic, as well as polymer. In the former case, a structural characterization study of the fast Ag{sup +} ion conducting glassy electrolyte Ag{sub 0.25}Ge{sub 0.19}Se{sub 0.56} was undertaken by means of differential anomalous x-ray scattering techniques. The Ag{sup +} ion transport behavior was probed with the aid of complex impedance spectroscopy and pulsed field gradient NMR measurements of the Ag{sup +} ion diffusivity. We found evidence suggesting that short (3.1--3.5 A) Ag-Ag distances are present. The observed prefactor for conductivity suggests that the number of mobile Ag{sup +} ions in this glass is significantly less than expected from its stoichiometry. The transport property results were examined in the light of our structural findings and analyses were attempted in terms of some reasonable microscopic models. The other major aspect of this research, dealing with amorphous poly(ethylene glycol)-LiCF{sub 3}SO{sub 3} electrolytes, involved measurements, via the pulsed field gradient NMR method, of the diffusivity of the polymer host, the cation (Li{sup +}) and the anion (CF{sub 3}SO{sub 3}{sup -}) in these complexes and the ionic conductivity, via complex impedance spectroscopy. Based on the conductivity prefactors, it appears that these amorphous polymer electrolytes exhibit classical Meyer-Nelder behavior; moreover, our ion transport results could be rationalized in terms of an ion association model (involving ion pairs and higher order aggregates).

Research Organization:
Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE/ER
DOE Contract Number:
FG02-85ER45198
OSTI ID:
5262245
Report Number(s):
DOE/ER/45198-3; ON: DE90005587
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English