Exceptionally high proton conductivity in Eu2O3 by proton-coupled electron transfer mechanism

Autor: Shuo Wan, M. A. K. Yousaf Shah, Hao Wang, Peter D. Lund, Bin Zhu
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: iScience, Vol 27, Iss 1, Pp 108612- (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2589-0042
DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108612
Popis: Summary: Proton conductors are typically developed by doping to introduce structural defects such as oxygen vacancies to facilitate ionic transport through structural bulk conduction mechanism. In this study, we present a novel electrochemical proton injection method via an in situ fuel cell process, demonstrating proton conduction in europium oxide (Eu2O3) through a surficial conduction mechanism for the first time. By tuning Eu2O3 into a protonated form, H-Eu2O3, we achieved an exceptionally high proton conductivity of 0.16 S cm−1. Distribution of relaxation time (DRT) analysis was employed to investigate the proton transport behavior and reveal the significant contribution of surface proton transport to the overall conductivity of Eu2O3. Remarkably, H-Eu2O3 exhibited a low activation energy for ionic transport, comparable to the best ceramic electrolytes available. The proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) mechanism describes this novel surficial proton conduction mechanism. These findings provide new possibilities for developing advanced proton conductors with improved performance.
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