Current-voltage characteristics of water-adsorbed imogolite film

Abstract

Electric current flow was observed through imogolite film when imogolite ((HO)3Al2O3SiOH) was exposed to water molecules and connected to external electrodes. Current flow was due to the bound water on the surface of imogolite. Current flow increased as the pH of the water decreased. The current-voltage (I-V) measurements from a field effective transistor (FET) using H2O/imogolite film revealed that the current carrier in H2O/imogolite had p-type characteristics, i.e. the carrier was probably H+. The possible mechanism for current transportation in imogolite/water was also suggested in this paper.