title: Effect of Imidazole Arrangements on Proton-Conductivity in Metal-Organic Frameworks.
abstract: Imidazole molecules were frequently incorporated into porous materials to improve their proton conductivity. To investigate how different arrangements of imidazoles in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) affect the overall proton conduction, we designed and prepared a MOF-based model system. It includes an Fe-MOF as the blank, an imidazole@Fe-MOF (Im@Fe-MOF) with physically adsorbed imidazole, and an imidazole-Fe-MOF (Im-Fe-MOF), which contains chemically coordinated imidazole molecules. The parent Fe-MOF, synthesized from the exchange of carboxylates in the preformed [Fe3(μ3-O)](carboxylate)6clusters and multitopic carboxylate ligands, serves as a control. The Im@Fe-MOF was prepared by encapsulating free imidazole molecules into the pores of the Fe-MOF, whereas the Im-Fe-MOF was obtained in situ, in which imidazole ligands coordinate to the metal nodes of the framework. Proton-conductivity analyses revealed that the proton conductivity of Im-Fe-MOF was approximately two orders of magnitude greater than those of Fe-MOF and Im@Fe-MOF at room temperature. The high proton conductivity of 1.21 × 10-2S cm-1at 60 °C for Im-Fe-MOF ranks among the highest performing MOFs ever reported. The results of the density functional theory calculations suggest that coordinated imidazole molecules in Im-Fe-MOF provide a greater concentration of protons for proton transportation than do coordinated water molecules in Fe-MOF alone. Besides, Im-Fe-MOF exhibits steadier performance than Im@Fe-MOF does after being washed with water. Our investigation using the above ideal crystalline model system demonstrates that compared to disorderly arranged imidazole molecules in pores, the immobilized imidazole molecules by coordination bonds in the framework are more prone to form proton-conduction pathways and thus perform better and steadier in water-mediated proton conduction.
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Centre of Biomedical Functional Materials, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of New Power Batteries, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University , Nanjing 210023, P. R. China.|College of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Harbin University of Science and Technology , Harbin 150040, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Feng-Ming
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Centre of Biomedical Functional Materials, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of New Power Batteries, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University , Nanjing 210023, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Long-Zhang
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9276-5101
authors.initials: LZ
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas A&M Energy Institute, Texas A&M University , College Station, Texas 77843-3255, United States.
authors.forename: Jun-Sheng
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Northeast Normal University , Changchun 130024, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Centre of Biomedical Functional Materials, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of New Power Batteries, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University , Nanjing 210023, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Centre of Biomedical Functional Materials, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of New Power Batteries, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University , Nanjing 210023, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Shun-Li
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Centre of Biomedical Functional Materials, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of New Power Batteries, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University , Nanjing 210023, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Centre of Biomedical Functional Materials, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of New Power Batteries, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University , Nanjing 210023, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Ya-Qian
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2140-7980
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Lan
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Northeast Normal University , Changchun 130024, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Zhong-Min
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3342-1966
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas A&M Energy Institute, Texas A&M University , College Station, Texas 77843-3255, United States.
authors.forename: Hong-Cai
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9029-3788
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Zhou