Study of electrical conductivity of Li2O-B2O3-SiO2-Li2SO4 glasses and glass-ceramics

Glasses and glass-ceramics have been synthesized in Li2O-B2O3-SiO2-Li2SO4 system using melt-quenching and single stage heat treatment. The electrical conductivity of both glass and glass-ceramic samples has been measured. The conductivity increases with Li2SO4 addition. The maximum ionic conductivity of 4.08×10−4S/cm at 523K has been found for the glass composition 40Li2O:30B2O3:15SiO2:15Li2SO4 and it has been found that conductivity of glass-ceramics is less compared to corresponding glass. The ionic nature of conductivity has been confirmed using transport number measurement. With Li2SO4 addition glass transition temperature and density decreases indicating weakening of the glass structure and expansion of the network, leading to increase in conductivity. The phase identification in glass-ceramics has been done using XRD technique. Composition analysis has been done using SEM/EDS.