Structural characterization and electrical conductivity analysis of MoO3–SeO2–ZnO semiconducting glass nanocomposites

Abstract

A series of glass nanocomposite samples of the general composition formula xMoO3–(1-x) (0.5SeO2–0.5ZnO) for x = 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 have been prepared by solid-state reaction, i.e., slow cooling process. The structural characteristics have been explored by analyzing X-ray diffraction patterns, Fourier-transform infrared, and UV–Vis spectra. The superposition of different nanophases SeO2, SeO3, ZnO, MoO3, Zn (SeO3), Zn (SeO4), Zn(MoO4), Zn2Mo3O8 and ZnMo8O10 over the amorphous glassy matrices have been identified, and their crystallite sizes have been evaluated as well. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra reveal different types of bonding like Zn–O–Se type and stretching vibrations of MoO6 octahedral units. It is observed that with increasing MoO3 concentration, the estimated values of optical bandgap energy, Urbach energy, and average crystallite size reduce. The dependency of electrical conductivity on frequency and temperature have been analyzed using Almond-West formalism and Jonscher's universal power-law. The non-linear character of DC conductivity and different activation energies at low and high-temperature regions affirm that the present glassy systems exhibit semiconducting nature. Moreover, DC conduction process is due to small polaron hopping through localized or defect states. The decreasing trend of power-law exponent (s) with temperature rise reveals that AC conduction mechanism is consistent with the correlated barrier-hopping (CBH) model. The existing correlated barrier-hopping model has been modified to attain reasonable values of fitting parameters and to obtain theoretical values of ideal thermodynamic glass transition temperature. The AC conductivity activation energy and free energy required for small polaron migration reduce with increasing conductivity. The scaling property emphasizes that conductivity relaxation process is subjected to the structure of the composition and does not depend on temperature.