Self-diffusion coefficient of water in Nafion-117 membrane with different monovalent counterions: a radiotracer study

The self-diffusion coefficient of water in Nafion-117 membrane in different cationic forms was measured by the transient radiotracer method, which is based on an analytical solution of Fick's second law. The self-diffusion coefficient of water in the membrane was obtained from the analysis of time-dependent isotopic-exchange rates of tritium tagged water between sample of Nafion-117 membrane and equilibrating water. This transient method does not require the knowledge of partition coefficient of water, which is an essential parameter in the radiotracer permeation method. In present work, self-diffusion coefficients of water in the Nafion-117 membrane with H⁺, Li⁺, Ag⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Rb⁺ and Cs⁺ monovalent counterions were obtained. The values of logarithm of self-diffusion coefficients were found to vary linearly as a function of polymer volume fraction except for membrane sample with H⁺ counterions. The self-diffusion coefficient of water in Nafion-117 membrane with H⁺ counterions was significantly different from the trend observed in the variation of self-diffusion coefficient of water as a function of polymer volume fraction in the membrane with other monovalent counterions. This observation seems to suggest that the physical structure of Nafion-117 membrane in H⁺ form may be quite different from the Nafion-117 membrane with other monovalent counterions. The high self-diffusion coefficient of water (1.67 × 10^?6 cm²/s) in Nafion-117 membrane with Cs⁺ counterions indicates that the ionic clusters in Nafion-117 membrane are well connected even at low water content (8.2 wt.%) in the membrane.