An Alumina/Polyacrylonitrile Nanofibrous Composite Separator via High-Efficiency Electro-Blown Spinning and Wet-Laid Technologies for Improved Lithium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

In this study, the alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) nanofibers and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers are respectively prepared by the high-efficiency, low-cost and feasible electro-blown spinning (EBS) technology. Then, the nanofibrous composite membranes composed of Al 2 O 3 nanofibers and PAN nanofibers are manufactured via a simple and convenient wet-laid method for use as separator in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The results indicate that the novel nanofibrous composite membranes containing Al 2 O 3 nanofibers own excellent thermal stability, which can effectively improve the battery safety. Furthermore, it is found that, compared with pure PAN and commercial separators, the nanofibrous composite separators show higher porosity, better affinity for liquid electrolyte and lower interfacial resistance by introducing a high dosage of Al 2 O 3 nanofibers of 30 wt%, leading to superior C-rate capability and more stable cycling ability. In addition, the LIBs assembled with 30 wt% Al 2 O 3 /PAN separator exhibit high discharge specific capacity of 152.9 mAh/g at the current density of 0.5 C and possess high capacity retention of 83.1% after 200 cycles.

A review on modified polymer composite electrolytes for solid-state lithium batteries

“…Generally, the agglomeration of nanoparticles will occur when the concentration of nanoparticles in the polymer reaches a critical value, and the performance of composite electrolyte will decrease with the increase of inorganic filler. To get around agglomeration of Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles, Liu et al 109 synthesized Al 2 O 3 nanofiber and PAN nanofiber films to obtain nanowire composite films by a simple wet-laid method, and increased the content of Al 2 O 3 nanofiber to 30%. When thermal properties of different electrolytes were tested, the shape of nanofibers containing 30% Al 2 O 3 did not change significantly except that they were slightly yellow at 180 °C while the pure PAN separator began to wrinkle at about 120 °C (Fig.…”

Recent Advances in Filler Engineering of Polymer Electrolytes for Solid-State Li-Ion Batteries: A Review

“…As a result, this PCE demonstrated substantially enhanced mechanical strength of the polymer matrix, a high ionic conductivity of 1.3 × 10 −3 S cm −1 , and an interesting heat resistance (panels c and d of Figure 5). The groups of Thomas, 75 Eesafi, 76 and Kang 77 prepared Al 2 O 3 -reforced PCEs with different polymer matrices [such as P(VDF−TrFE), PEO, and PAN] by electrospinning. All PCEs exhibited enhanced ionic conductivity, mechanical properties, and thermostability, suggesting that electrospinning provided novel nanoparticle-filled PCEs in SSBs.…”

Flexible self-supporting inorganic nanofiber membrane-reinforced solid-state electrolyte for dendrite-free lithium metal batteries

“…Here, we present an innovative strategy in which continuous Al 2 O 3 nanofibers were manufactured by electroblown spinning (EBS) under both gas pressure and high voltage with an efficiency up to dozens of times that achievable by electrospinning, 19,20 followed by vacuum filtration to enable the formation of a 3D network structure from an aqueous Al 2 O 3 dispersion. Then, the PEO-LiTFSI solution was cast in the nanofiber interstices to form a PEO-based composite solidstate electrolyte reinforced by Al 2 O 3 nanofibrous membranes (AOM-PEO-LiTFSI).…”