Ionic diffusion in superionic-conductor melts

The self-diffusion coefficients D+ and D- of the two ionic species in molten AgI, CuCl, CuBr and CuI are evaluated and contrasted with those calculated for molten NaCl. The evaluation adopts a simple model for liquid state dynamics, earlier proposed by Zwanzig to justify the Stokes-Einstein formula for monatomic fluids, and by suitable approximations relates the self-diffusion coefficients to pair potentials and to the pair structure of the melt. The results offer an interpretation for molecular dynamics data showing that, whereas for a ''normal'' system such as NaCl the ratio D+/D- in the melt is of the order unity, a sizable difference between D+ and D- persists in salts melting from a fast-cation conducting solid. This difference is explicitly related to liquid structure through differences in the structural backscattering of cations by cations and of halogens by halogens. The calculated magnitudes of D+/D- are quite satisfactory, while the absolute magnitudes of D+ and D- are in good agreement with the data only for those salts (AgI, CuBr and NaCl) in which the masses of the two ionic species are not greatly different. (author). 21 refs, 2 tabs