Effect of CuO addition on the structural, electrical and dielectric properties of the sodium borate glasses

The sodium borate glasses doped with different CuO content (70B2O3- 30Na2O- xCuO with x = 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 mol%) have been prepared using the conventional melt-quenching technique. The amorphous nature of the prepared samples has been identified by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The experimental and theoretical density, the molar volume, and the oxygen packing density have been defined. The effect of CuO incorporation into the 70B2O3- 30Na2O glass base on the electrical and dielectric properties has been studied. The D.C. electrical parameters have been measured in the temperature range 323-483 K, while the dielectric parameters have been measured in the temperature range 333-483 K and the frequency range 10-1- 107 Hz. The D.C. electrical conductivity increases while the activation energy decreases by increasing CuO content (mol%). The conduction type is ionic which CuO inserts into the glass structure as a glass modifier. The A.C. study reveals that all investigated glasses obey the correlated barrier hopping model (CBH). Moreover, the dissipation factor peaks indicate the glasses' relaxation nature which has been further analyzed from the real and imaginary parts of the electric modulus.