Boosting Proton Conductivity in Hydrogen-Bonded Organic Layers by Modulating Embedded Guest Molecules

Different guest molecules were embeddedin hydrogen bonded4-aminobenzenesulfonic acid layers, and their huge difference in protonconduction performance was investigated. Layer separation inducedby dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) molecules plays an important role inthe super proton conductivity of HOL-DMSO, which is ashigh as 2.21 x 10(-2) S cm(-1) at 100 & DEG;C under anhydrous conditions. Modulating embedded guest molecules within hydrogen bondedmaterialspresents a significant potential for improving proton conductivity.In this study, we constructed three distinct hydrogen-bonded organiclayer materials (HOL, HOL-H ( 2 ) O, and HOL-DMSO) using 4-aminobenzenesulfonicacid and different guest molecules and evaluated their proton conductionproperties. Remarkably large variations in proton conductivity wereobserved, ranging from 10(-9) (HOL) to10(-2) S cm(-1) (HOL-DMSO). The presence of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) molecules within HOL-DMSO played a crucial role in effectively separating thestructural protons and facilitating the subsequent structure reorganizationprocess. This contributed to the superprotonic conductivity observed,which reached as high as 2.21 x 10(-2) S cm(-1) at 100 & DEG;C under anhydrous conditions.