Fe(iii) phytate metallogel as a prototype anhydrous, intermediate temperature proton conductor

Abstract

A proton conducting metallogel [FNPA; ferric nitrate (FN)–phytic acid (PA)] is synthesized by immobilizing a protogenic ligand (phytic acid) using iron(III) nitrate in DMF. The xerogel shows high proton conductivity of 2.4 × 10⁻² S cm⁻¹ at 120 °C, the best value known among all metal organic materials (MOMs). Marking the first such attempt in MOMs, an electrode made using the xerogel showed a power density of 0.94 mW cm⁻² at 0.6 V under dry fuel cell conditions.