Synthesis of Crystalline Porous Organic Salts with High Proton Conductivity

Self-assembled crystalline porous organic salts (CPOSs) formed by an acid-base combination and with one-dimensional polar channels containing water molecules have been synthesized. The water content in the channels of the porous salts plays an important role in the proton conduction performance of the materials. The porous salts described in this study feature high proton conductivity at ambient conditions and can reach as high as 2.2×10-2 S cm-1 at 333 K and under high humid conditions. This is among the best conductivity values reported to date for porous materials, for example, metal-organic frameworks and hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks. These materials exhibiting permanent porosity represent a group of porous materials and may find interesting applications in proton-exchange membrane fuel cells.