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Two-dimensional (2D) materials are highly promising for flexible electronics, and graphene is the only well-studied transparent conductor. Herein, density functional theory has been used to explore a new transparent conducting material via adsorption of H on a 2D β-GaS sheet. This adsorption results in geometrical changes to the local structures around the H. The calculated electronic structures reveal metallic characteristics of the 2D β-GaS material upon H adsorption and a large optical band gap of 2.72 eV with a significant Burstein-Moss shift of 0.67 eV. The simulated electrical resistivity is as low as 10 O·cm, comparable to the benchmark for ITO thin films. [Figure not available: see fulltext.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel linear non-fluorinated sulfonimide functionalized polyamide (SPA) polymer electrolyte was successfully synthesized via an aromatic sulfonimide monomer with superior thermal stability and superacidity. The aromatic sulfonimide remains stable below 220 °C. To fabricate membranes with strong mechanical strength and dimensional stability, the polymer was blended with various quantities of PVdF. The PVdF/SPA blend membranes exhibit an excellent capacity of water uptake and high dimensional stability. However, their proton conductivity was found to be substantially lower than that of Nafion 211. Analysis on the SEM images of the PVdF/SPA blend membranes reveals that the low proton conductivity is primarily caused by the large pore structures (>1 μm), which lead to breakdown of the continuous proton transport channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]