A comparative study of the electric transport of ions and water in sulfonated cation-exchange polymeric membranes of the new generation

This work presents the results of the studies concerning the electric transport of ions and water through sulfonated cation-exchange membranes synthesized on the basis of polysulfone (PS) and poly(etherether-ketone) (PEEK). The concentration dependences of the water absorption capacity, specific conductance, and diffusion and electroosmotic permeabilities measured in sodium chloride solutions are compared to the analogous characteristics of some commercial membranes (MK-40, MF-4SK, CL-25T) under the same experimental conditions. The model concepts concerning the permeability of ion-conducting membranes as disperse systems are found to be applicable for interpreting the set of the electric transport properties of the membrane samples studied. A cluster-channel type of the membrane structure is identified. The polymeric films based on PS and PEEK are shown to possess characteristics comparable to those of commercial ion-exchange membrane samples and can be recommended for producing polymer compositions with an optimum set of electric transport properties.