High proton conductive glass electrolyte synthesized by an accelerated sol–gel process with water/vapor management

An accelerated sol–gel process with water/vapor management was developed here to synthesize SiO2–P2O5 glass electrolytes for shortening the gelation time and enhancing their proton conductivities. The gelation time needed is shortened from 1 to 6 months in the Wang et al.’s report [Mater. Lett. 42 (2000) 225] to about 3 days successfully in the developed process. The gelation reactions in the sol–gel process for the synthesis of SiO2–P2O5 glass electrolytes were investigated by in situ FTIR spectroscopy. Types of water involving free/hydrogen bonded/strong hydrogen bonded water and hydroxyl group in the synthesized SiO2–P2O5 glass electrolytes were determined by TGA and in situ FTIR. A SiO2–P2O5 glass electrolyte with a methanol permeability of 2.1 × 10−9 cm2/s and high proton conductivity (9.45 × 10−3 S/cm) was obtained by the developed process.