Mid-infrared light resonance-enhanced proton conductivity in ceramics

Mid-infrared light resonance-enhanced proton conductivity in ceramics | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Mid-infrared light resonance-enhanced proton conductivity in ceramics Qianli Chen, Haobo Li, Yicheng Zhu, Zihan Zhao, Ruixin Ma, Wenjie Wan This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5274115/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 19 Aug, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Ionic transport in solids is critical for energy applications in batteries and fuel cells. To improve ionic transport, an emerging approach is the selective excitation of atomic vibrations related to the mobile ions. However, there is limited direct experimental evidence demonstrating enhanced macroscopic ionic conductivity through this approach. Here, we used a 140-mW continuous-wave mid-infrared (MIR) light to excite the O–H stretch vibration in proton-conducting yttrium-doped barium zirconate. We observed reversible enhancement of 28.6% in bulk, and 41.2% in grain boundary proton conductivities, controlled by MIR irradiation. Decreases in the activation energy and prefactor for bulk proton conduction suggest possible reduction in activation entropy and attempt frequency of proton hopping. We rationalize the enhancement by modelling the excitation of vibrational states in the potential energy surface of the proton. Our findings highlight MIR irradiation as a power-saving strategy to optimize the performance and operation cost of solid-state electrochemical devices by selective modulation of the vibrational properties. Physical sciences/Materials science/Condensed-matter physics Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for energy and catalysis Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SI.pdf Supplementary Information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 19 Aug, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5274115","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":366945326,"identity":"20b7a1b5-e13d-45b8-ae08-7f759a0c9122","order_by":0,"name":"Qianli 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