Electrochemical performance of membranes based on hydrogenated polynorbornenes functionalized with imide side groups containing sulfonated fluorinated moieties

This work reports the electrochemical characteristics of a new cation-exchange membrane based on a polynorbornene functionalized with substituted dicarboximide side groups, specifically hydrogenated poly(N-4-oxybenzenesulfonic acid-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorophenyl-exo-endo-norbornene-5,6-dicarboximide). A thorough study on the electrochemical characteristics of the membrane involving osmotic flow, electromotive forces of concentration cells and proton conductivity is reported. This work shows that the polymer membrane exhibits a proton conductivity of 2.24 S/m at 30 °C, the same order of magnitude as that reported for Nafion membranes at the same temperature. The proton permselectivity of the membrane is also discussed.