AgI-Ag oxysalt high conductivity glasses : a tentative approach to their structure

As a result of electronic microscopy observations the amorphous nature of the high conductivity AgI-Ag oxysalt electrolytes seems due to a random orientation of structurally ordered microdomains having less than 1 micron size. A tentative approach to the structure of these domains is suggested in order to account for (i) the fast silver ion migration, which would occur along `smooth' passageways tracked by iodide ions, (ii) the critical composition, viz 80 mole.% AgI, corresponding to the conductivity maximum found for most of these materials at room temperature, (iii) the low activation energy of the conductivity Arrhenius plots, (iv) the presence of some immobile Ag + which closely surround the oxyanions