Feasibilities and electrochemical performance of surface-modified polyester separator for Lead-acid battery applications

Abstract

Development of high performance separator is a significant need for enhancing the performance of various kinds of Lead-Acid Batteries (LAB). Herein, we developed a new strategy for improving the performance of the polyester separator by a facile modification process, where the separator can be used in various LAB applications. The low cost and higher electrolyte uptake (182 %) behavior of bio-cellulose coated on the polyester surface (CC-Polyester) to develop a hybrid separator. The coating thickness of 10µm biofilm was achieved on the one-side of polyester separator surface. The CC-Polyester shows an excellent separator properties for the LAB system specifically higher wettability, dimensional stability and electrochemical performances. The separator materials showed sustainable thermal stability without any thermal shrinkage in 110°C and exhibited excellent chemical stability with no visual degradation after 100 h in an electrolyte solution. Comparatively, the charge and discharge performance of the LAB battery contain CC-Polyester showed higher performance because of higher wettability behavior of the coating layer, which can improve the adhesion between the separator and electrode surface, and enhance the reaction between the electrolyte and electrode. This investigation provides a new concepts and additional options for developing a new kinds of separator for LAB based systems.