Optimization of electrical conductivity in copper phosphate glasses Bhasker Pratap Choudhary Department of Applied Sciences & Humanities, Roorkee Institute of Technology, RTDC, Sharda University, Roorkee, Greater Noida, India article info Article history: Received 21 May 2020 Accepted 23 May 2020 Available online 27 June 2020 Keywords: Glass Amorphous materials Ionic Conductivity Electronic Conductivity abstract Amorphous CuO-P 2 O 5 glasses doped with ZnO and CdCl 2 have been prepared by melt quenching. The electrical conductivity of CuO-P 2 O 5 glasses were optimized over a range of frequency and temperature as 100 Hz À 1 MHz and 323–573 K, respectively. The trend of increasing conductivity was observed in prepared glasses as frequency and temperature increased. The obtained results ac and dc conductivity confirm the power law of Jonscher and Arrhenius law, on the basis of which it can suggest increased con- ductivity of glasses. Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Confer- ence on Advanced Functional Materials (Innovations in Chemical, Physical and Biological Sciences). 1. Introduction Copper is the most useful metal among the transition metal ele- ments present in the periodic table, as it is widely found as a metal in minerals. Compared to other alkali metals, the first ionization energy of copper is much higher while the second and third ioniza- tion energies are much lower. Copper is usually found in glasses in two valance states as + 1 and + 2, in which CuO is observed at low temperatures and Cu 2 O at higher temperatures [1–3]. As the elec- tronic structure of copper ions varies, they form different bonds with oxygens in the glasses. Consequently, the structure and prop- erties glasses are based on concentration of copper ions. Lot of researches has been done concerning effect of copper ions in phos- phate glasses, but such studies have not been conducted in copper based phosphate glasses [4–5]. Phosphate glasses have better physical properties in comparison to other glass as wide glass- forming range, high thermal expansion coefficients, low melting and softening temperatures, optical characteristics and electrical conduction [6–8]. Copper phosphate glass has interesting electrical and optical properties because copper may exist in phosphate glasses as cuprous (Cu 1+ ) or cupric (Cu 2+ ) ions. As, the characteris- tics of copper phosphate glasses change depending on the ratio of Cu 1+ and Cu 2+ in the glasses, therefore the electronic conduction occurs after thermal excitation of electrons from Cu atom adjacent to a vacant oxygen lattice point [9–13]. It has been found that the general structure of copper phosphate glasses includes oxygen polyhedra in the PO 4 tetrahedra, with Cu 2+ ions in interstitial posi- tions that behave as a glass modifier as well as glass former [7,14,15]. The main purpose of the present study is to investigate the influences of CdCl 2 and CuO nanoparticles on electrical and dielec- tric properties of CuO-P 2 O 5 glasses. The measured variation in ac conductivity, activation energy, dielectric constant and loss factor of phosphate glasses over a wide range of frequency and at a wide range of temperature are expected to expose comprehensive infor- mation regarding the conduction mechanism in the glasses. 2. Experimental 2.1. Materials All chemicals (NH 4 H 2 PO 4 , CuSO 4, ZnSO 4 , CdCl 2 and NaOH) were of analytical grade and used without any further purification. 2.2. Preparation of copper oxide and zinc oxide Nanoparticles of copper oxide and zinc oxide were prepared by dehydration of their hydroxides. In this process, sulphates of respective metal were dissolved in distilled water and added a solution of NaOH drop wise with continuous stirring for 4 h. The precipitation of hydroxides were kept overnight and then filtered carefully. Warm water wad used to wash the hydroxides several times to remove unwanted ions and kept in furnace at 500 °C for 3 h where nanoparticles of Copper oxide and Zinc oxide were obtained. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.05.604 2214-7853/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Advanced Functional Materials (Innovations in Chemical, Physical and Biological Sciences). E-mail address: bhaskerpratap.phy@ritroorkee.com Materials Today: Proceedings 29 (2020) 1235–1238 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Materials Today: Proceedings journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matpr