ETS-10 is microporous titanium silicate that is commonly used as a heterogeneous catalyst and adsorbent material. Previously, it was shown that H⁺-form of ETS-10 has proton conductivities up to 1.5 x 10^-3 S/cm. Also, it was previously shown that organic acid functionalization of the zeolite BEA improved its conductivity from 1.6 x 10^-4 to 3.0 x 10^-3 S/cm¹. In this work, ETS-10 is synthesized hydrothermally and characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with an energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, powder x-ray diffraction (XRD). The proton conductivity of the acid functionalized ETS-10 will be measured and compared with the non-functionalized ETS-10. Its potential for use in fuel cell membranes will be discussed.

1. Holmberg BA, Hwang SJ, Davis ME, Yan YS, MICROPOROUS AND MESOPOROUS MATERIALS 80 (1-3): 347-356 MAY 2 2005