Diffusion and ionic conduction in oxide glasses

Abstract

The ion transport properties of soda-lime silicate and alkali borate glasses have been studied with complimentary tracer diffusion and impedance spectroscopy techniques in order to investigate the ion dynamics and mixed-alkali effect (MAE). In soda-lime silicate glasses the tracer diffusivity of 22Na alkali ions is more than six orders of magnitude faster than the diffusivity of earth alkali 45Ca ions. This observation is attributed to a stronger binding of bivalent earth alkali ions to the glass network as compared to that of alkali ions. The conductivity of the investigated standard soda-lime silicate glasses is mostly due to the high mobility of sodium ions and a temperature independent Haven ratio of about 0.45 is obtained. For single alkali sodium-borate glasses, the Haven ratio is also temperature independent, however, it is decreases with decreasing temperature for rubidium-borate glass. The MAE was investigated for Na-Rb borate glasses and it was observed that the tracer diffusivities of 22Na and 86Rb ions cross, when plotted as function of the relative alkali content. This crossover occurs near the Na/(Na+Rb) ratio of the conductivity minimum due to MAE. The authors suggest that this crossover and the trend of diffusion coefficients is the key to an understanding of the MAE. © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd.