Abstract
Environmental and economic concerns are driving the demand for electric vehicles. However, their development for mass transportation hinges largely on improvements in the separators in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), the preferred energy source. In this study, innovative separators for LIBs were fabricated by near-field electrospinning (NFES) and the sol-gel method. Using NFES, poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) fibers were fabricated. Then, PVDF membranes with pores of 220 nm and 450 nm were sandwiched between a monolayer and bilayer of the electrospun fibers. Nanoceramic material with organic resin, formed by the sol-gel method, was coated onto A4 paper, rice paper, nonwoven fabric, and carbon synthetic fabric. Properties of these separators were compared with those of a commercial polypropylene (PP) separator using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), microtensile testing, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), ion-conductivity measurement, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and charge-discharge cycling. The results indicate that the 220 nm PVDF membrane sandwiched between a bilayer of electrospun fibers had excellent ionic conductivity (~0.57 mS/cm), a porosity of ~70%, an endothermic peak of ~175 °C, better specific capacitance (~356 mAh/g), a higher melting temperature (~160 °C), and a stable cycle performance. The sol-gel coated nonwoven fabric had ionic conductivity, porosity, and specific capacitance of ~0.96 mS/cm., ~64%, and ~220 mAh/g, respectively, and excellent thermal stability despite having a lower specific capacitance (65% of PP separator) and no peak below 270 °C. The present study provides a significant step toward the innovation of materials and processes for fabricating LIB separators.
Highlights
Introduction distributed under the terms andOwing to environmental issues and concerns as well as high global energy prices, the value of driving electric vehicles has been recognized, resulting in gradual market expansion [1]
Using Equation (1), the porosity of the separators were calculated based on the density of PP (0.946 g/cm3 ) and the PVDF membrane (1.78 g/cm3 )
After sandwiching the 220 nm PVDF membrane between the monolayer and bilayer of electrospun fibers, the porosity was relatively maintained at ~71% and ~70%, respectively
Summary
Introduction distributed under the terms andOwing to environmental issues and concerns as well as high global energy prices, the value of driving electric vehicles has been recognized, resulting in gradual market expansion [1]. The biggest bottleneck in the further development of electric vehicles is the fabrication and production of batteries with high power density [2]. Prominent car factories have invested substantially in the development and improvement of the power density of batteries for electric vehicles. Of the many batteries that could be used for electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) offer considerable energy density advantages [3]. In LIBs a separator between the cathode and the anode permits the stable transmission of lithium ions; the structure and properties of the separator can affect the safety, cycle life, and energy density of LIBs [4]. The separator is an important component in innovations to improve the performance and safety aspects of LIBs. At present, considerable efforts are being devoted to improving lithium-ion battery technology, given that its cost is a concern. Innovations in separator technology can significantly improve the performance of LIBs in electric vehicles
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