QENS study of Proton Diffusion in Functional Metal-Organic Frameworks

Complex proton conductors based upon metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted increasing interests for applications in fuel cells. We have developed new proton conductors based on stable and functionalised MOFs [MFM-300 (Cr) and MFM-300 (Cr)-SO3H]. Importantly, MFM-300(Cr)-SO3H exhibited remarkable proton conductivity (>10-2 S/cm at 25 oC under 98%RH), which is comparable with the current leading commercial material based upon Nifion polymers (10-1 S/cm at 60 to 80 oC under 98%RH). We request 7 days on IRIS to study the motion (and diffusion pathways) of active protons within the structures of these two MOF samples, aiming to reveal the nature of the high proton conductivity by analysing the QENS data together with our MD modelling studies.