Preparations of an inorganic-framework proton exchange nanochannel membrane

An inorganic-framework proton exchange nanochannel membrane is developed. Taking advantage of the inorganic framework, silica nanotubes in this work, the membrane owns controllable, straight and aligned proton conducting nanochannels. The proton conductivity of the nanochannel membrane is reported as high as 11.3 mS cm−1 at 70 °C and first-principle calculations reveal that the activation energy for proton transfer in this nanochannel membrane is impressively low (0.06 eV and 0.07 eV) with the assistance of water molecules.224