Electrical properties of lithiated boron oxide fast-ion conducting glasses

Lithiated boron oxide glasses of the family xLi₂O-B₂O₃, with x ranging from 1.0 to 4.5, were prepared by melting at high temperatures and shaped in the form of slabs. The glasses’ properties were evaluated by Complex Impedance Spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy techniques. The variation of lithium-ion conductivity at room temperature as a function of the glasses’ lithium content is found to exhibit a maximum at a molar ratio of x=3.5. This maximum in the ionic conductivity is correlated to the formation of crystalline regions in the vitreous structure of the material as the lithium concentration is increased. Paper presented at the 9th EuroConference on Ionics, Ixia, Rhodes, Greece, Sept. 15–21, 2002.