Preparation and conductivity of solid high-proton conductor silica gels containing 12-tungstogermanic heteropoly acid

Silica gels containing 12-tungstogermanic acid were prepared by means of sol-gel method. Infrared spectra and XRD patterns revealed that the Keggin structure characteristic of GeW12O404− anion was present in the silica gel skeleton. The regularity of the change of the characteristic peaks in the infrared spectra was investigated. The silica gels exhibited considerably high-proton conductivity, and the conductivity increased with increasing 12-tungstogermanic acid content. The proton conductivity of gel containing 71 wt% 12-tungstogermanic acid is 4.00×10−3 s cm−1 at room temperature (16°C).