Promising Free-Standing Polyimide Membrane via Solution Blow Spinning for High Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

Solution blow spinning (SBS) is a novel scalable process to fabricate nanofibrous mat with high efficiency and security. Herein, as a proof of concept, we adopt SBS methodology to prepare a kind of free-standing polyimide nonwoven membrane with adhesion morphology among an interconnected network and employ it as a potential lithium-ion battery separator successfully. Results manifest that as-prepared polyimide membrane possesses satisfactory porosity (87.3%), excellent thermal stability (no shrinkage even up to 180 °C), and admirable electrolyte wettability, which further significantly improves the ionic conductivity (1.74 mS cm–1). In addition, cells assembled with polyimide membranes deliver outstanding cycling performance and C-rate discharge capability compared with Celgard 2400 in the same conditions. Overall, this study reveals that SBS as a facile spinning-strategy might be easily converted into continuous production on an industrial scale and, along with the aforementioned charming features, indic...