Structural and Electrosurface Characteristics of Sulfonated Cation-Exchange Perfluoropolymer Membranes in 1 : 1 Electrolyte Solutions

The equilibrium (the exchange capacity, the structural resistance coefficient, and contact angles) and transport (the conductivity) characteristics of differently obtained sulfonated cation-exchange perfluoropolymeric membranes in 1 : 1 electrolyte solutions were investigated. It was shown that the transformation of membranes from the Na+form to the K+form sharply decreases their moisture content, which is accompanied by an increase in the structural resistance coefficient and the counterion concentration in membranes. Experimental data were used for calculating the electrochemical characteristics of membranes: efficiency coefficients, ion mobilities and transfer numbers of ions in the intramembrane liquid, as well as Donnan potentials. Measurements of the wettability of fluoroplastic ion-exchange membranes with water and electrolyte solutions showed that the presence of strongly acidic ionogenic groups significantly decreases contact angles as compared with that of the polytetrafluoroethylene surface. It was also established that, for the investigated systems, the contact angle is virtually independent of the composition of the liquid phase.