Unified approach to ion transport and structural relaxation in amorphous polymers and glasses.

Kinetic data for structural relaxation in silver iodomolybdates at the glass transition temperature (Tg) are obtained by high-pressure differential scanning calorimetry (HP-DSC) and are compared with activation energies (EA) and volumes (VA) obtained earlier from conductivities below Tg. The results are fitted to an empirical equation, EA = MVA, and displayed in the form of a master plot of EA versus VA, an approach previously applied to strongly coupled systems, including polymer electrolytes and molten salts above their glass transition temperatures. The parameter M emerges as a localized modulus, expressive of interatomic forces within the medium, linking together EA,sigma, VA,sigma and EA,s, VA,s, the "apparent" activation parameters for ionic conductivity and structural relaxation, respectively. The VA and EA values for ion transport are much smaller than the corresponding values for structural relaxation. However, remarkably close agreement emerges between the "process parameters", Ms and Msigma, both close to 8 GPa, thus establishing a quantitative link between ion transport and structural relaxation in this highly decoupled system. A new EA versus VA master plot is constructed, which points the way to a unified approach to ion transport in polymers and glasses.