A new Zr(IV)-based metal–organic framework, termed VNU-17 [Zr₆O₈(H₂O)₈(HSNDC)₄, where HSNDC²⁻ = 4-sulfonaphthalene-2,6-dicarboxylate], was designed to enhance proton conductivity through the incorporation of Brønsted acid functionalities. The resulting VNU-17 framework adopted the bcu topology and the structure was highlighted by densely packed sulfonic acid groups lining 6 Å channels. Following this, the internal void space of VNU-17 was engineered to further enhance proton conductivity, in which the proton transfer agent, imidazole (HIm), was anchored within the structure in two different loadings. Remarkably, the material with the highest HIm load, HIm₁₁⊂VNU-17, exhibited a 900-fold enhancement in proton conductivity (5.9 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹ at 85% RH and 70 °C) in comparison with the parent VNU-17 structure and was shown to maintain its performance over at least 40 h. These findings demonstrate the potential for systematically fine-tuning such materials for use as electrolyte materials in proton exchange membrane fuel cells.

中文翻译：

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锚固策略可在新的金属有机框架中提高质子传导性

一种新的基于Zr（IV）的金属有机骨架，称为VNU-17 [Zr ₆ O ₈（H ₂ O）₈（HSNDC）₄，其中HSNDC ^2- = 4-磺基萘-2,6-二羧酸盐]。通过结合布朗斯台德酸官能团来提高质子传导性 最终的VNU-17框架采用了bcu通过排列在6通道上的密集的磺酸基团突出显示了拓扑结构和结构。此后，对VNU-17的内部空隙空间进行了工程设计，以进一步提高质子传导性，其中质子转移剂咪唑（HIm）以两种不同的载荷锚固在结构内。值得注意的是，具有最高负载他的材料，HIM ₁₁ ⊂VNU-17，在质子传导性表现出900倍的增强（5.9×10 ^-3小号厘米^-1在85％RH和70℃）与母体比较VNU-17结构已证明可以在至少40小时内保持其性能。这些发现证明了系统地微调用作质子交换膜燃料电池中的电解质材料的这种材料的潜力。