Preparation of proton-conducting hybrid materials by reacting zinc phosphate glass with benzimidazole

Abstract

An intermediate temperature proton-conducting amorphous material was prepared utilizing the reaction of zinc metaphosphate glass powders with benzimidazole. The anhydrous material, consisting of Zn-coordinated benzimidazole and benzimidazole/phosphoric acid composite groups with benzimidazole, showed almost no decrease in weight even after heating at 250°C. It showed electrical conductivities of 10–100μScm−1 at the intermediate temperatures of 170–230°C: the activation energy for electrical conduction (~1.0eV) was larger than that for proton transport between benzimidazole molecules. This hybridization is one of the important approaches for preparing new intermediate-temperature proton conducting materials.