Assembly of three coordination polymers based on a sulfonic-carboxylic ligand showing high proton conductivity.

Three new coordination polymers (CPs)/metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with different structures have been synthesized using 4,8-disulfonyl-2,6-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid (H4L) and metal ions, Cu(2+), Ca(2+) and Cd(2+). The Cu compound features a one-dimensional chain structure, further extending into a 2D layer network through H-bond interactions. Both the Ca and Cd compounds show 3D frameworks with (4,4)-connected PtS-type topology and (3,6)-connected bct-type topology, respectively. These CPs/MOFs all exhibit proton conduction behavior, especially for the Cu compound with a proton conductivity of 3.46 × 10(-3) S cm(-1) at 368 K and 95% relative humidity (RH). Additionally, the activation energy (Ea) has also been investigated to deeply understand the proton-conduction mechanism.