Crystal structure and electrical conductivity of imidazolium succinate

Small single crystals of the imidazolium succinate were grown and their structure was re-examined using the X-ray diffraction method and a probable protonic conduction mechanism has been proposed. The electric conductivity of the powdered tablets was measured using the impedance spectroscopy method. The range of obtained values of conductivity as well as the activation energy (0.65 eV) of the imidazolium succinate is close to these of imidazolium malonate and imidazolium glutarate investigated previously [K. Pogorzelec-Glaser, J. Garbarczyk, Cz. Pawlaczyk, E. Markiewicz, Materials Science Poland 24 (2006) 245-253]. Metastable and virtual positions for proton transfer were indicated by means of calculations of the atomic displacement factors and the probability density function.