Water management within the membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) of electrochemical hydrogen compressors (EHCs) plays a crucial role in optimizing overall performance, particularly under low relative humidity (RH), where the anode side tends to dry out. Hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles functionalized with amino groups (HMSNs-NH2) were integrated into the anode catalyst layers of EHCs to establish humidity-independent proton pathways through acid-base interactions with Nafion ionomers. These acid-base pairs between grafted -NH2 and sulfonic acid groups create continuous "proton highways", enabling efficient conduction via the Grotthuss mechanism even at 50 % RH. With only 2.5 wt% HMSNs-NH2 in the anode catalyst layer, hydrogen was compressed to 0.9 MPa in 60 +/- 3 s at 50 % RH, representing a 55 % reduction in compression time compared to MEAs with conventional Pt/C catalyst layers under the same conditions. This work overcomes the critical water-management bottleneck in EHCs, advancing the deployment of hydrogen energy technologies in arid environments. (c) 2025 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.