Determination of the electronic transference numbers of solid electrolytes

Abstract

A simple technique has been developed for the determination of the electronic transference number of a solid ionic compound MX. When a current is passed through a Ag/AgI/MX/M cell, silver is deposited at the interface of AgI and MX only if MX is electronically conductive. The amount of silver deposited at the interface is proportional to the electronic transference number of MX and can be determined by electrochemical methods. The application of this technique is limited to solid ionic compounds with decomposition potentials above 0.3 V.