Proton Conduction of an Acid-Resistant Open-Framework Chalcogenidometalate Hybrid in Anhydrous versus Humid Environments

Inorg Chem. 2020 May 18;59(10):7283-7289. doi: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.0c00707. Epub 2020 May 6.

Abstract

Solid proton conductors are broadly applicable to various electrochemical devices; therefore, it is highly desirable to develop robust materials with high proton conductivity under both anhydrous and humid environments within a wide temperature range. In this work, we investigated the proton conducting properties of a 3D open-framework chalcogenidometalate hybrid, [CH3NH3]2[H3O]Ag5Sn4Se12·C2H5OH (1), which exhibited both anhydrous and water-assisted proton conduction. Importantly, the excellent thermal and chemical stabilities of hybrid 1 are superior to many MOF-based proton conducting materials. This present study proved to be a considerable advance based on open-framework chalcogenidometalates in the design of robust solid proton conducting materials that are capable of operating under humid and anhydrous environments in a wide temperature range.