Solid State Ionics, Vol.177, No.33-34, 2865-2872, 2006
Synthesis and characterization of Ge and Sn(II) iodide-doped thioborate anhydrous proton conductors
Metal iodide-doped anhydrous proton conductors in the series xMI(2)+(1-x)(HBS2)(3), where M=Ge and Sri, have been prepared. These samples improve upon the anhydrous proton conductivity shown previously in the H2S+B2S3+GS(y) series, where G=Si, Ge, and As, through a displacement reaction to incorporate HI into the materials. This is analogous to doping a silver halide salt into fast ion conducting chalcogenide glasses, such as AgI+Ag2S+B2S3+SiS2, which results in a one to two orders of magnitude improvement in the ionic conductivity. The structural modification of the boroxol ring units in the thioboric acid is discussed based on the infrared and Raman spectroscopy. The DC conductivity, estimated from AC impedance spectra, of the metal iodide-doped (HBS2)(3) samples is reported as a function of temperature and related back to the underlying structural chemistry of these materials. The static solid state proton NMR spectra were also used to identify the proton environment and proton dynamics. These materials represent an improvement upon previous anhydrous proton-conducting materials and represent an important step in finding intermediate temperature proton conductors. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords:anhydrous proton conductors;germanium iodide;tin iodide;hydrogen iodide;fuel cells;fast ion conducting glasses