Proton conductors are promising materials for clean energy, but most available materials exhibit sufficient conductivity only when chemically substituted to create oxygen vacancies, which often leads to difficulty in sample preparation and chemical instability. Recently, proton conductors based on hexagonal perovskite‐related oxides have been attracting attention as they exhibit high proton conductivity even without the chemical substitutions. However, their conduction mechanism has been elusive so far. Herein, taking three types of oxides with different stacking patterns of oxygen‐deficient layers (β‐Ba2ScAlO5, α‐Ba2Sc0.83Al1.17O5, and BaAl2O4) as examples, the roles of close‐packed double‐octahedral layers and oxygen‐deficient layers in proton conduction are shown. It is found that “undoped” β‐Ba2ScAlO5, which adopts a structure having alternating double‐octahedral layer and double‐tetrahedral layer with intrinsically oxygen‐deficient hexagonal BaO (h') layer, shows high proton conductivity (≈10−3 S cm−1 above 300 °C), comparable to representative proton conductors. In contrast, the structurally related oxides α‐Ba2Sc0.83Al1.17O5 and BaAl2O4 exhibit lower conductivity. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations revealed that protons in β‐Ba2ScAlO5 migrate through the double‐octahedral layer, while the h′ layer plays the role of a “proton reservoir” that supplies proton carriers to the proton‐conducting double‐octahedral layers. The distinct roles of the two layers in proton conduction provide a strategy for developing high‐performance proton conductors.

Proton conductors have found diverse applications, such as electrolytes in proton ceramic fuel cells, which require high ionic conductivity at low temperatures and high chemical stability. Here, we report the oxide, Ba2LuAlO5, which exhibits proton conductivities of 10−2 S cm−1 at 487 °C and 1.5 × 10−3 S cm−1 at 232 °C, high diffusivity and high chemical stability without chemical doping. Ba2LuAlO5 is a hexagonal perovskite-related oxide with highly oxygen-deficient hexagonal close-packed h′ layers, which enables a large amount of water uptake x = 0.50 in Ba2LuAlO5·x H2O. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and neutron diffraction show the hydration in the h′ layer and proton migration mainly around cubic close-packed c layers existing at the interface of octahedral LuO6 layers. These results demonstrate that the high proton conduction allowed by the highly oxygen-deficient and cubic close-packed layers is a promising strategy for the development of high-performance proton conductors.

During oocyte growth and follicle development, oocytes closely communicate with cumulus cells. We examined the effects of oocyte-derived growth factors, growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) and bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15), on the growth and acquisition of meiotic competence of porcine oocytes collected from early antral follicles (1.2-1.5 mm). First, we confirmed that GDF9 and BMP15 mRNAs were expressed almost exclusively in the oocytes. Oocyte-cumulus cell complexes (OCCs) collected from early antral follicles were cultured in growth medium supplemented with 0-100 ng/ml of GDF9 or BMP15 for 5 days. GDF9 dose-dependently increased the OCC diameter, while BMP15 did not. GDF9 and BMP15 had no significant effects on oocyte growth (P > 0.05). When OCCs that had been cultured with 50 and 100 ng/ml BMP15 were subjected to a subsequent maturation culture, they expanded fully by gonadotropic stimulation and 49% and 61% of oocytes matured to metaphase II (MII), respectively. In contrast, GDF9 did not promote cumulus expansion, and < 10% of oocytes matured to MII. Based on the difference in cumulus expansion, we compared the expression of luteinizing hormone/choriogonadotropin receptor (LHCGR) and follicle stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) mRNAs in cumulus cells. The level of LHCGR mRNA was increased in cumulus cells of the BMP15 group, although there were no significant differences in FSHR mRNA levels among the groups. These results suggest that GDF9 promotes the growth of OCCs and that BMP15 promotes LHCGR mRNA expression in cumulus cells during oocyte growth culture, which may contribute to cumulus expansion and oocyte maturation.

Oocytes communicate with the surrounding somatic cells during follicular development. We examined the effects of two oocyte-derived growth factors, growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) and bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15), on the development of porcine oocyte–cumulus cell complexes (OCCs) in vitro . We collected OCCs from early antral follicles (1.2–1.5 mm) and prepared oocytectomized cumulus cell complexes (OXCs), which were then cultured in a growth medium supplemented with 0–100 ng/ml GDF9 and/or BMP15 for 7 days. In the medium without GDF9 or BMP15, OCCs developed during culture, and approximately 30% of them formed antrum-like structures. GDF9 promoted OCC development and structure formation in a dose-dependent manner. However, OXCs did not form antrum-like structures without growth factors. GDF9 promoted the development of OXCs, and 50 and 100 ng/ml GDF9 promoted the formation of the structures by 8% and 26%, respectively; however, BMP15 did not promote the formation of these structures. OXCs were then cultured with 100 ng/ml GDF9 and various concentrations of BMP15 to investigate their cooperative effects on the formation of antrum-like structures. BMP15 promoted the formation of antrum-like structures in a dose-dependent manner. In conclusion, GDF9 derived from oocytes is probably important for the formation of antrum-like structures in porcine OXCs, and BMP15 cooperates with GDF9 to form these structures.

Proton conductors have found diverse applications such as electrolytes of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), but they are required to have high ionic conductivity at low temperatures and chemical stability. Here, we report a new oxide Ba2LuAlO5, which exhibits higher proton conductivity than 10‒2 S cm‒1 between 350 and 800°C, high diffusivity and high chemical stability without any chemical doping. Ba2LuAlO5 is a hexagonal perovskite-related oxide with highly oxygen deficient h' layers, which enables a large amount of water uptake x = 0.22 in Ba2LuAlO5·x H2O. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations show that the water molecules dissociate into the h' layer and that protons migrate mainly around the interface of cubic closed packed c layers. These results demonstrate that the high proton conduction allowed by the highly oxygen deficient h' and closed packed c layers is a promising strategy for the exploration and development of high-performance proton conductors.