A cationic diode is fabricated by hot-pressing a commercial cation-conducting ionomer membrane (Fumasep FKS-30) onto a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate with microhole of 5, 10, 20, or 40 mu m diameter. Both, symmetric (ionomer on both sides) and asymmetric (ionomer only on the working electrode side) cases are investigated in a 4-electrode measurement cell. A 5-electrode measurement cell in generator-collector mode is employed to directly detect competing proton transport through the ionomer. Only the asymmetric device allows ion current rectification to be observed. With decreasing microhole diameter the rectification effect increases. With increasing electrolyte concentration (for aqueous HCl, NaCl, LiCl, NH4Cl, MgCl2, CaCl2) the rectification effect diminishes. Competition between cation transport and proton transport is observed in all cases. A qualitative impedance model is developed to diagnose the quality and performance of these cationic diodes.