Protonic conduction in alkaline earth metaphosphate glasses containing water

D.c. electrical conductivity data were obtained for M O·P₂O₅ glasses (M = Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba) containing small amounts of water. The results suggest that the mobility of protons in the glasses increases with decreasing OH bonding strength. The relation between the proton concentration and the conductivity or the apparent activation energy was studied for calcium metaphosphate glasses containing various amounts of water. The conductivity was found to be proportional to the square of the proton concentration; the apparent activation energy decreased linearly with increasing logarithm of proton concentration.