Clay Sheets Stack to Form Proton Conductors (IMAGE)

Northwestern University

Clay Sheets Stack to Form Proton Conductors

Caption

This is a scanning electron microscopy image of stacked clay sheets. When two-dimensional sheets of the clay, called vermiculite, are exfoliated in water, they carry negative charges, attracting positively charged protons. After the sheets dry, they self-assemble into paper-like films. The near 1-nanometer spacing between the layers serves as the nanochannels that can concentrate protons for conduction.

Credit

Jiaxing Huang

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