Ionic Transport in CsNO2-Based Nanocomposites with Inclusions of Surface Functionalized Nanodiamonds

Abstract

Composite solid electrolytes (1 − x)CsNO2-xND, where ND are nanodiamonds, including those after liquid-phase and gas-phase oxidation and reduction functionalization, were prepared, and their properties investigated by XRD, analysis of BET nitrogen adsorption isotherms, IR spectroscopy and impedance spectroscopy. The electrical conductivity of composites (1 − x)CsNO2-xND obeys the Arrhenius dependence and has a maximum at x = 0.95 regardless of the ND pretreatment. It was found that the conductivity depends on the mode of functionalization of the ND surface, as well as on the processing time. The electrical conductivity of composites with ND, processed by the gas-phase method, is 1.5–2.6 times higher than that of composites with initial ND, in which the conductivity is 2 orders of magnitude higher than that of pure cesium nitrate. Thus, the possibility of using ND as an effective heterogeneous additive for the preparation of composite solid electrolytes, including cesium nitrite, has been demonstrated for the first time.