Proton Hopping Mechanisms in a Protic Organic Ionic Plastic Crystal

We elucidate the dynamics and mechanism of proton transport in a protic organic ionic plastic crystal (POIPC) [TAZ][pfBu] by means of Born–Oppenheimer molecular dynamics simulations at 400 K and zero humidity. The arrangement of ionic species in the crystal offers a two-dimensional hydrogen bond network along which an acidic proton can travel from one cation to another through a sequence of molecular reorientations. The results suggest spontaneous autodissociation of the N–HN bond in the cation and multiple proton shuttle events from the cation's nitrogen to the anion's oxygen site in a native crystal. A complete proton transfer event is observed in simulations of a defective crystal with a single proton hole created in the cation. The barrier for proton transfer is determined using ab initio metadynamics simulations to be 7 kcal/mol, in agreement with experimental conductivity data. Using gas phase quantum chemical calculations, we propose [TAZ][CF3CF2CH2CF2SO3] as a compound that can show enhanced conductivity compared to that of [TAZ][pfBu].