Relative humidity influence on proton conduction of hydrated pellicular zirconium phosphate in hydrogen form

Admittance measurements have been carried out as a function of temperature (20/-20°C) and relative humidity (5–90%) on pellets made up of pressed sheets of hydrated α-zirconium phosphate (pellicular zirconium phosphate). Their dc conductivities have been calculated on the basis of a suitable equivalent circuit using a nonlinear least squares procedure: at 20°C and 90% relative humidity they lie in the range 3-0.9×10^-4 S cm^-1 when the sheets are oriented parallel to the electric field and are about seven times lower in the case of perpendicular orientation. Changes in relative humidity from 90 to 5% cause the conductivity to decrease by two orders of magnitude and the activation energy to rise from 6.7 to 12.2 kcal/mol. A comparison of the Arrhenius equation parameters with those previously determined for polycrystalline α-Zr(HPO₄)₂·H₂O reveals that the same transport mechanism is present in both materials, the higher conductivity of pellicular zirconium phosphate arising from a larger effective number of carriers.