X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for probing non-bridging oxygen in silver ion conductors and their relationship to ionic conductivity

The materials studied in this work are 60AgI-20Ag2O-20(0.1MmOn + 0.9MmOn) of the boron oxide rich glass with M'm'On' as WO3 and M'm'On' as B2O3 and the WO3 rich glass with MmOn as B2O3 and M'm'On' as WO3. XPS has shown that for glasses with the same amount of network modifiers glasses with a higher electrical conductivity have a larger number of (non-bridging oxygen) NBOs. This experiment helped in the deduction of the formation of tetrahedral oxyanions which when share corners with one another could result in the formation of larger channel-like pathways or open structures in the glasses through which more silver ions can flow through with ease. (Author)