The assembled structures of triangular symmetrically shape molecules with three functional groups, trimesic acid (TMA) and melamine, have been investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy on Highly Oriented Pyrolytic Graphite (HOPG) in ambient. Hexagonal porous structures are formed by these molecules and the cavity of the assembled structure becomes bigger when larger molecules are used as building blocks. The cavity within the assembled structure formed by TMA is bigger enough to host guest molecule.
Shuguo Qu,Minhui Li,Chenchen Zhang,Jihai Duan,Weiwen Wang,Jianlong Li,Xiaojin Li
A novel proton exchange membrane was synthesized by embedding a crystalline which was nano-assembled through trimesic acid and melamine (TMA·M) into the matrix of the sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) to enhance the proton conductivity of the SPEEK membrane. Fourier transform infrared indicated that hydrogen bonds existed between SPEEK and TMA·M. XRD and SEM indicated that TMA·M was uniformly distributed within the matrix of SPEEK, and no phase separation occurred. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that this membrane could be applied as high temperature proton exchange membrane until 250 °C. The dimensional stability and mechanical properties of the composite membranes showed that the performance of the composite membranes is superior to that of the pristine SPEEK. Since TMA·M had a highly ordered nanostructure , and contained lots of hydrogen bonds and water molecules, the proton conductivity of the SPEEK/TMA·M-20% reached 0.00513 S cm −1 at 25 °C and relative humidity 100%, which was 3 times more than the pristine SPEEK membrane, and achieved 0.00994 S cm −1 at 120 °C.