Proton Conductivity in Phosphoric Acid: The Role of Quantum Effects

M. Heres; Y. Wang; P. J. Griffin; C. Gainaru; A. P. Sokolov

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.156001

Proton Conductivity in Phosphoric Acid: The Role of Quantum Effects

M. Heres, Y. Wang, P. J. Griffin, C. Gainaru, A. P. Sokolov

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15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Phosphoric acid has one of the highest intrinsic proton conductivities of any known liquids, and the mechanism of this exceptional conductivity remains a puzzle. Our detailed experimental studies discovered a strong isotope effect in the conductivity of phosphoric acids caused by (i) a strong isotope shift of the glass transition temperature and (ii) a significant reduction of the energy barrier by zero-point quantum fluctuations. These results suggest that the high conductivity in phosphoric acids is caused by a very efficient proton transfer mechanism, which is strongly assisted by quantum effects.

Original language	English
Article number	156001
Journal	Physical Review Letters
Volume	117
Issue number	15
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.156001
State	Published - Oct 7 2016

Funding

We greatly acknowledge support from the NSF Chemistry Program under Grant No. CHE-1213444.

Funders	Funder number
National Science Foundation	CHE-1213444

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10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.156001

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title = "Proton Conductivity in Phosphoric Acid: The Role of Quantum Effects",

abstract = "Phosphoric acid has one of the highest intrinsic proton conductivities of any known liquids, and the mechanism of this exceptional conductivity remains a puzzle. Our detailed experimental studies discovered a strong isotope effect in the conductivity of phosphoric acids caused by (i) a strong isotope shift of the glass transition temperature and (ii) a significant reduction of the energy barrier by zero-point quantum fluctuations. These results suggest that the high conductivity in phosphoric acids is caused by a very efficient proton transfer mechanism, which is strongly assisted by quantum effects.",

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AU - Sokolov, A. P.

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AB - Phosphoric acid has one of the highest intrinsic proton conductivities of any known liquids, and the mechanism of this exceptional conductivity remains a puzzle. Our detailed experimental studies discovered a strong isotope effect in the conductivity of phosphoric acids caused by (i) a strong isotope shift of the glass transition temperature and (ii) a significant reduction of the energy barrier by zero-point quantum fluctuations. These results suggest that the high conductivity in phosphoric acids is caused by a very efficient proton transfer mechanism, which is strongly assisted by quantum effects.

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Proton Conductivity in Phosphoric Acid: The Role of Quantum Effects

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