The need for more efficient batteries and fuel cells to be used for vehicle propulsion, photovoltaic energy storage, and self-contained power sources has led to increased effort in the development of improved materials with high proton conductivity. In this paper, we outline the utility of neutron scattering methods in conjunction with first-principles total-energy calculations for characterizi...

Using density functional theory we look at the quantum mechanics of charge transport along water wires both with free ends and donor/acceptor terminated. With the intermediate geometries in the DFT iterations we can follow the charge transfer mechanism and also construct the energy landscape explicitly. It shows activation barriers when a proton is transferred from one water molecule to the nex...

A novel high aspect ratio material which can simultaneously display multiple functions such as proton and electron conductivity and electrocatalytic activity has been developed by incorporating both platinum nanoparticles and phosphoric acid doped polybenzimidazole along the inner and outer surfaces of a hollow carbon nanofiber.

Three new sulfonated porous coordination polymers (PCPs)/metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been synthesized using solvothermal methods. These PCPs possess porous structures with non-coordinating sulfonic acid groups or sulfonate with dimethyl ammonium cations and exhibit high proton conductivity at a low humidity of 60% RH (relative humidity) at ambient temperature.

A novel SPES-NH(2)-GA-Nafion® composite membrane with higher proton conductivity and lower methanol permeability was fabricated by covalent crosslinking layer-by-layer self-assembly of an unbalanced charged polyampholyte (SPES-NH(2)) and glutaraldehyde (GA) with controllable free sulfonic acid content.

Novel ionomers based on polybenzimidazole block sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) show excellent thermal properties. The ionic aggregation of sulfonic acid groups leads to well-developed phase separated morphology and thus high proton conductivity at wide humidity range, up to 65 mS cm(-1) at 90% relative humidity.

Herein, we report a chiral 3D framework with the formula [Co(HPO3)2][H2DABCO] (DABCO = 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane). This compound exhibits two distinct dielectric anomalies, one attributed to the transfer of protons between non-polar DABCO and the inorganic framework, and the other to the in-plane oscillatory fluctuation of the DABCO molecule. It also exhibits proton conductivity under high-...

A nanosized Gd6Ni3 cluster-based two-dimensional 3d-4f heterometallic coordination polymer has been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions using a mixture of H4PMIDA (H4PMIDA = N-(phosphonomethyl) iminodiacetic acid), Gd(ClO4)3 and Ni(CH3COO)2·4H2O. An electrical property investigation reveals that the coordination polymer exhibits a proton conductivity.

We investigated the configuration of substituent groups that are post-synthetically bound to the pore surface in a porous coordination polymer. This study demonstrates the observations of orientation and coordination fashions of the grafted groups, which contribute towards improved proton conductivity in porous frameworks.

Here, we report a remarkable 15 Å nanolayered tin phosphate, Sn(HPO4)2·3H2O (SnP-H+ or SnP), and its clay-like gel, which are multifunctional and are prepared using earth-abundant Sn and P chemicals by a facile, environmentally benign and potentially cost-effective process. This new energy material is discovered here as the best proton conductor among all the known layered phosphates with a ver...