Enhanced ionic conduction in nanodimensional lithium borosilicate glass confined within mesoporous alumina

Lithium ion conduction in nanodimensional borosilicate glass with glass composition 30Li2O.7B2O3.63SiO2 within mesoporous alumina (MA) template was studied. Facile sol-gel in-situ process was adopted for the preparation of samples. Small angle x-ray scattering and TEM analysis affirm the mesoporous feature of our sample. High surface area (370 m2/g) of MA was determined from BET analysis. Surface morphology was studied using SEM. Alkali ion containing glass confined in ordered mesoporous template showed ∼4 orders of magnitude higher conductivity values than the corresponding bulk glass. The increase in conductivity was ascribed to the increase in free volume which provides unhindered ionic pathways. The nanocomposite showed a dc conductivity value ∼10−6 S • cm−1 at room temperature. Activation energy for nanocomposite was determined from Arrhenius equation and was found to be 0.28 eV. This nanocomposite may find potential applications in solid state ion battery operable at room temperature.