Temperature-responsive proton-conductive liquid crystals formed by the self-assembly of zwitterionic ionic liquids

In the present study, we synthesized a series of ionic liquids by mixing amphiphilic imidazolium-type zwitterions with sulfonic acids containing different substituent groups. Nanostructured proton conductors having hexagonal and cubic structures were constructed by the self-assembly of these zwitterionic ionic liquids. These nanostructured proton conductors exhibited an assembled-structure dependent proton conduction behavior. The introduction of highly ordered liquid crystal structures efficiently improved ionic conductivity, suggesting the induction of proton conduction through a hopping mechanism. Temperature-responsive ionic conductivity behavior based on phase transition within the self-assembled liquid crystal structures was also observed.