Proton conductivity in phenolsulfonic acids and their salts

The geometric parameters and energies of crystal hydrates of aromatic sulfonic acids and their salts, as well as the pathways of proton transport in them, were calculated by the DFT (B3LYP) method with the 6-31G** basis set. For aromatic sulfonic acids, the proton relay mechanism was shown to be energetically more favorable than rotation of the HSO group or direct proton transfer. Calculations show that an increase in the number of water molecules located near the HSO3 group from one to four decreases the barrier from 6 to 0.3 kcal/mol. Hence, a moderate increase in humidity should enhance the conductivity, which is fully consistent with experimental data. Calculations predict that the salts where all protons are substituted by metal atoms are unlikely to show good conductivity. Conversely, mixed salts, for example, H3C6(OH)(NaSO3)(HSO3) and H3C6(OH)(RbSO3)(HSO3), are expected to be thermally stable and resistant to deliquescence with an increase in the humidity of a medium and to have good conductivity.