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Atomically thin micas as proton-conducting membranes
- Source :
- Mogg, L, Hao, G P, Zhang, S, Bacaksiz, C, Haigh, S, Peeters, F M, Geim, A & Lozada-Hidalgo, M 2019, ' Atomically-thin micas as proton conducting membranes ', Nature Nanotechnology, vol. 14, pp. 962–966 . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-019-0536-5, Nature nanotechnology, Nature Nanotechnology
- Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- Monolayers of graphene and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) are highly permeable to thermal protons1,2. For thicker two-dimensional (2D) materials, proton conductivity diminishes exponentially, so that, for example, monolayer MoS2 that is just three atoms thick is completely impermeable to protons1. This seemed to suggest that only one-atom-thick crystals could be used as proton-conducting membranes. Here, we show that few-layer micas that are rather thick on the atomic scale become excellent proton conductors if native cations are ion-exchanged for protons. Their areal conductivity exceeds that of graphene and hBN by one to two orders of magnitude. Importantly, ion-exchanged 2D micas exhibit this high conductivity inside the infamous gap for proton-conducting materials3, which extends from ∼100 °C to 500 °C. Areal conductivity of proton-exchanged monolayer micas can reach above 100 S cm−2 at 500 °C, well above the current requirements for the industry roadmap4. We attribute the fast proton permeation to ~5-A-wide tubular channels that perforate micas’ crystal structure, which, after ion exchange, contain only hydroxyl groups inside. Our work indicates that there could be other 2D crystals5 with similar nanometre-scale channels, which could help close the materials gap in proton-conducting applications. Few-layer micas show proton permeation across the sheet, exceeding that of graphene and hBN by one to two orders of magnitude.
- Subjects :
- Materials science
Proton
Biomedical Engineering
FOS: Physical sciences
Bioengineering
02 engineering and technology
Crystal structure
Applied Physics (physics.app-ph)
Conductivity
010402 general chemistry
01 natural sciences
Atomic units
law.invention
National Graphene Institute
law
Monolayer
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
General Materials Science
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Condensed Matter - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Graphene
Physics
Physics - Applied Physics
021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology
Condensed Matter Physics
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
0104 chemical sciences
Membrane
Chemical physics
ResearchInstitutes_Networks_Beacons/national_graphene_institute
0210 nano-technology
Engineering sciences. Technology
Order of magnitude
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 17483395 and 17483387
- Volume :
- 14
- Issue :
- 10
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Nature nanotechnology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....c3cb1de8aca1c12fd6758fd7456fde61