A highly stable Sr(II) dimer bearing phenyl carboxylate and N-containing ligands: Synthesis, crystal structure and proton conduction

Abstract

Investigating the proton conductivity of crystalline materials based on supramolecular complexes holds important promise for application. Based on this, we prepared a novel three-dimensional supramolecular complex, [Sr2(dcba)4(phen)2(H2O)4] (1) based on a binuclear structural unit using the hydrothermal reaction of 3,4-dichlorobenzoic acid (H2dcba) and 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) with strontium chloride. Its crystal structure of 1 was first characterized, and its good H2O and thermal stability were further investigated, and its proton conductivity was temperature- and humidity-dependent. The analysis of the conductive mechanism indicated the presence of abound H-bonding networks within the solid-state structure, which facilitated the migration of protons.