Photoexcited Anhydrous Proton Conductivity in Coordination Polymer Glass

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Solid-State Chemistry
• Optoelectronics

Background:

• Optically switchable proton-conductive materials are crucial for advancing artificial ionic circuits.
• Existing platforms often face limitations such as guest dependency, low transmittance, and poor processability due to reliance on crystalline conformational changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel transparent material for optically controlling anhydrous proton conductivity.
• To overcome the limitations of current switchable proton-conductive materials.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a transparent coordination polymer (CP) glass incorporating a photoexcitable tris(bipyrazine)ruthenium(II) complex.
• Employed photoexcitation to modulate proton conductivity.
• Conducted spectroscopies and density functional theory (DFT) studies to elucidate the mechanism.

Main Results:

• Achieved a reversible increase in anhydrous proton conductivity by a factor of 181.9 upon photoexcitation.
• Reduced the activation energy barrier for proton migration from 0.76 eV to 0.30 eV.
• Demonstrated precise control over conductivity via light intensity and ambient temperature modulation.

Conclusions:

• The developed CP glass offers a promising platform for optically controlled anhydrous proton conductivity.
• Photoexcitation of the ruthenium complex effectively enhances proton mobility by reducing the activation energy barrier.
• Proton deficiencies play a key role in the observed conductivity changes, paving the way for advanced ionic circuit applications.