I have doped Na at Sr site in SrSiO3 using solid state reaction method and found two phases i.e one crystalline phase i.e. SrSiO3 which is insulating and other is Na2Si2O5 which is amorphous and seems to be Na-ion conducting. How experimentally can I investigate structural features of this amorphous phase to explain flow of charge carriers?
I don't think so, I am not sure you can identify order disorder in an amorphous compound. The order disorder should be more applicable in crystaline materials
To study the local structure in amorphous materials, particularly in SiO2 based glasses, raman spectroscopy is the best option. You have to find information about the structural subunits that form the amorphous phase. Please find enclosed a paper related. Best regards
How did you find the phases? By using X-ray diffraction? How can you be sure that the amorphous phase is that sodium silicate?
@Marcella. Yes From XRD, I found crystalline phase and Raman analysis indicated the amorphous content then HRTEM further verified crystalline and amorphous phase co-present. SEM/EDS indicated that amorphous phase is Na-rich. I have also attached my initial findings. I have to further explore conductivity through this amorphous phase.
have you tried conductive atomic force microscopy or related spm techiques (kelvin probe, local capacitance)? they could inform you about local conductivity, local impedance etc
@Briones. Yes that is a good option and i am also thinking to do that. But we dont have this facility here in our lab. Also, our material is insulator at room temperature and gives appreciable conductivity above 400C. Do you have any reports in which researcher have used these techniques at higher temperature?
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