High proton conductivity through angstrom-porous titania
Two dimensional (2D) crystals have attracted strong interest as a new class of proton-conducting materials that can block atoms, molecules and ions while allowing proton transport through the atomically thin basal planes. Although 2D materials exhibit this perfect selectivity, the reported proton conductivities have been relatively low. Here we show that vacancy-rich titania monolayers are highly permeable to protons while remaining impermeable to helium with proton conductivity exceeding 100 S cm<sup>-2</sup> at 200 °C and surpassing targets set by industry roadmaps. The fast and selective proton transport is attributed to an extremely high density of titanium-atom vacancies (one per square nm), which effectively turns titania monolayers into angstrom-scale sieves. Our findings highlight the potential of 2D oxides as membrane materials for hydrogen-based technologies.
Authors
- Pengzhan Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5838-0945)
- Yongtao Tan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1516-8546)
- Wenqi Xiong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2786-4493)
- Shengjun Yuan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6208-1502)
- Renzhi Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7126-2006)
- M. Lozada-Hidalgo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3216-7537)
- A. K. Geǐm (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2861-8331)
- Takayoshi Sasaki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2872-0427)
- Wenzhe Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5236-2279)
- Guang‐Ping Hao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5849-9965)
- Dai‐Ming Tang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7136-7481)
- Yu Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6840-2781)
- Yu Ji
Institutions
- University of Macau (MO)
- National Institute for Materials Science (JP)
- Dalian University of Technology (CN)
- University of Manchester (GB)
- Henry Royce Institute (GB)
- Wuhan University (CN)
- Henan Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Dalian University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2024-12-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54544-z
- Citations
- 8
- Primary Topic
- MXene and MAX Phase Materials
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.94
Funders
- United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation
- UK Research and Innovation
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research
- Fundo para o Desenvolvimento das Ciências e da Tecnologia
- Lloyd's Register