Cumulative enhancement effect of proton conductivity in the possible hydrogen fuel cell material dysprosium sulfate

Abstract

In this study, we successfully synthesized an anhydrous crystalline material based on the lanthanide metal dysprosium coordinated with the sulfate ligand. This material exhibits a unique cumulative enhancement effect: during constant-temperature cycling tests, its conductivity increased significantly with repeated testing cycles. Under anhydrous conditions at 243 °C during the 10th cycle, a conductivity of 1.2 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹ was achieved, representing a three-order-of-magnitude improvement over the initial value of 5.7 × 10⁻⁶ S cm⁻¹ observed in the first cycle at 100 °C. We sincerely hope that this work will provide actionable insights for the design of proton-conductive materials and stimulate further research enthusiasm toward novel proton-conductive systems.