Synthesis of Pyrrole-based Porous Organic Polymers for High Temperature Proton Conduction

Porous organic polymers (POPs) with nitrogen-enriched structures are the type of materials with the advantages of porosity, excellent stability, and wide synthetic pathways, which possesses the great potential for application in the proton conduction. Herein, we report the synthesis of a novel type of pyrrole-based POPs that exhibit high surface areas and nitrogen-rich skeletons. The fabricated pyrrole-linked POPs render the high potential for the proton conducting application. In order to achieve precise modulation of the polymer structures, a benzothiadiazole moiety was introduced to increase the active site for forming strong hydrogen bonds with phosphoric acid. This modification allowed for precise manipulation of the monomers, which achieves a proton conductivity of 38.0 mS cm-1 at 180 °C. This work demonstrates a new type of nitrogen-rich POPs for proton conduction applications.