Preparation of proton selective membranes through constructing H+ transfer channels by acid-base pairs

Acid-base pairs were formed between sulfonic acid groups and imidazole groups. The resulted acid-base pairs form a nano-scale phase-separated morphology. Based on a pore-size sieving effect and the Grotthuss mechanism, the H+ transfer channels were constructed in acid-base pairs membranes, which can effectively prevent the transport of Zn2+ with a larger Stokes radius, but affect little on the smaller H+ transfer.334