Discussion of the mechanism of charge transfer in amorphous ionically conducting networks

Abstract

A model is presented of ionic conduction in the amorphous phase of poly(ethylene oxide) containing low amounts of salt. A scheme is given which describes qualitatively charge carrier generation, and a WLF law describes quantitatively the conductivity variations with temperature. The concentration of positive charge carriers remains approximately constant in the concentration range studied, and variations in the positive transference number are also explained. The model predicts the optimum value of the salt concentration.