E. Rodriguez-castellon et al., Proton conductivity of mesoporous MCM type of zirconium and titanium phosphates, SOL ST ION, 125(1-4), 1999, pp. 407-410
A family of novel mesoporous zirconium(IV) and titanium(IV) phosphate mater
ials has been prepared by sol-gel synthesis in the presence of cetyltrimeth
ylammonium bromide, a structure-directing cationic surfactant. The solids o
btained after removal of the surfactant by acid-ethanol extraction or by ca
lcination have high BET surface areas of 240-330 m(2)g(-1) and a narrow por
e size distribution in the mesopore range. AC conductivity measurements of
these solids were carried out by impedance spectroscopy. The data indicate
that two electric relaxation processes are present; one at low frequency, a
ssociated with the grain boundary and one at higher frequency related to a
relaxation within the pores. Although a partial contribution of electronic
conduction cannot be excluded, the major contribution comes from proton mob
ility along the channels. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserve
d.