Various compositions of silver-based quaternary superionic conducting (SIC) [AgI-Ag2O-(SeO2 + P2O5)(SSP)] glasses were prepared by melt quenching technique. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and conductivity studies were carried out to identify the amorphous nature and to select high ionic conducting composition of the SSP system for the fabrication of batteries. Solid-state primary batteries were fabricated using the 66.67%AgI-23.07%Ag2O-10.26%(0.3SeO(2) + 0.7P(2)O(5)) (66SSP37) glass with different cathode materials [I:C, (I + C):SE and {(I + C)+ SE}:TAAI, where I is Iodine, C is graphite, SE is solid electrolyte (SSP,glass) and TAAI is tetraalkyl (methyl and butyl) ammoniumiodide]. The open circuit voltage (OCV), polarization and discharge characteristics were measured to estimate the lifetime of the batteries made up of SSP glass. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.