Electrical conductivity of zinc-barium phosphate glasses

Abstract

A series of binary and ternary zinc-barium phosphate glasses was prepared, their densities were measured and their electrical properties were studied. A linear dependence of density with BaO content was observed in barium phosphate glasses while a breaking point in the linearity of the density curves occurs at about 40% ZnO concentration for the zinc-barium phosphate glasses. The d.c. conductivity measurements show that the activation energy is increased when P₂O₅ is replaced by BaO or ZnO, respectively. In the ternary glasses the activation energy appears to be relatively unaffected when BaO is replaced by ZnO, but at approximately 40%ZnO, there is a rise in the value of activation energy. Such a pronounced change in density and activation energy could be due to the change in the coordination of ZnO in this region. The linear log σ-1/T curves and also the value of σ_o suggest that the conduction mechanism in these glasses is similar to those in many other oxide glasses that have been investigated.