Structural, electrical and optical properties of carbon nanoparticle-lithium borate glass composites

The present study reports the structural, optical, and ionic transport characteristics of carbon nanoparticle (CNP)-lithium borate glass composites synthesized via melt-quenching technique. The composites were characterized using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, and impedance analysis at different temperatures. The ionic conductivity at room temperature was found to increase from 7.08 × 10−7 S/cm to 1.57 × 10−6 S/cm and the direct and indirect band gap energies shrank from 3.61 eV to 3.44 eV and 2.86 eV to 2.08 eV respectively with the addition of 0.4 wt% of CNPs compared to the pristine glass. The structural modifications that occurred in the glass network with the inclusion of CNPs accounted for this improvement.