Proton conduction in solids attracts great interest, not only
because of possible applications in fuel cell technologies, but also because of
the main role of this process in many biological mechanisms. Metal−organic
frameworks (MOFs) can exhibit exceptional proton-conduction performances,
because of the large number of hydrogen-bonded water molecules
embedded in their pores. However, further work remains to be done to
elucidate the real conducting mechanism. Among the different MOF
subfamilies, bioMOFs, which have been constructed using biomolecule
derivatives as building blocks and often affording water-stable materials,
emerge as valuable systems to study the transport mechanisms involved in
the proton-hopping dynamics. Herein, we report a versatile chiral threedimensional
(3D) bioMOF, exhibiting permanent porosity, as well as high
chemical, structural, and water stability. Moreover, the choice of this
suitable bioligand results in proton conductivity, and allows us to propose a
proton-conducting mechanism based on experimental data, which are displayed visually by means of quantum molecular
dynamics simulations.
