LAUSR

Abstract Developing new low-cost and efficient proton-conducting materials remains an attractive and challenging task. Herein, a Preyssler-type polyoxometalate derived coordination compound had been synthesized with a hydrothermal method, namely, H4.5NaCo5(2-MI)15.5(2-MI)3 [NaP5W30O110]·5H2O (1) (where 2-methylimidazole is abbreviated as 2-MI, and partial 2-MI was deprotonated). The structure was characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction, PXRD, FT-IR, TG, CHN and ICP-OES elemental analyses. We studied the relationship between the crystal structure and proton conduction of compound 1 and found that the presence of 2-MI reduced the leakage of polyoxometalate under high relative humidity. Meanwhile, the strong interaction of the counter cation Na+ with water is beneficial to form more hydrogen bonds. Compound 1 showed the maximum proton conductivity with a value of 4.42 × 10−3 S cm−1 at 367 K and 97% RH. Kinetic investigation indicates that the proton conduction mechanism of compound 1 follows the vehicle mechanism.