Ionic conductivity in borate glasses with three types of mixed alkali cations

Abstract We have investigated the temperature- and frequency-dependent ionic conductivity in (Li 0.67 − x Na 0.33 Rb x ) 2 B 4 O 7 (LNRBO) glasses with x = 0, 0.07, 0.2, 0.33, 0.47, and 0.6. The mixed alkali effect of the ternary mixed alkali system LNRBO is compared with that of the binary mixed alkali systems (Li 1 − x Na x ) 2 B 4 O 7 (LNBO), (Li 1 − x Rb x ) 2 B 4 O 7 (LRBO) and the single alkali glass Rb 2 B 4 O 7 (RBO). From the results of the dc conductivity and dc activation energy, we observe that the LNRBO system exhibits the combined characteristic of binary mixed alkali systems LNBO and LRBO. It is found that the power-law exponent n for binary alkali glass is the same as that for ternary alkali glass but it is lower than that for single alkali glass. This indicates that the dimensionality of conducting pathway in the mixed alkali glasses of LNBO, LRBO and LNRBO is lower than that in the single alkali RBO. We discuss the concentration dependence of the dc conductivity and dc activation energy in the framework of the bond valence technique to reverse Monte Carlo produced structural model [Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 155507 (2003)].