Percolation and effective‐medium theories for perfluorinated ionomers and polymer composites

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Abstract
Percolation and effective‐medium theories are applied to model the transport and elastic properties of perfluorinated ionomers. The composite nature of these polymers is emphasized. The effective‐medium theory is generalized to track continuously the evolution from lamellar to fibrillar morphology. The predicted dramatic difference in ion selectivity between lamellar and spherical morphology is verified quantitatively in perfluorinated ionomer blends. The limitations and potential improvements of the effective‐medium theory and its relationship to percolation theory are discussed. Applications of these theories to other multiphase polymer systems are also discussed.