Forming solid electrolyte interphase in situ in an ionic conducting Li_(1.5)Al_(0.5)Ge_(1.5)(PO_4)_3-polypropylene(PP) based separator for Li-ion batteries

A new concept of forming solid electrolyte interphases（SEI） in situ in an ionic conducting Li（1.5）Al（0.5）Ge（1.5）（PO4）3-polypropylene（LAGP-PP） based separator during charging and discharging is proposed and demonstrated. This unique structure shows a high ionic conductivity, low interface resistance with electrode, and can suppress the growth of lithium dendrite. The features of forming the SEI in situ are investigated by scanning electron microscopy（SEM） and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（XPS）. The results confirm that SEI films mainly consist of lithium fluoride and carbonates with various alkyl contents. The cell assembled by using the LAGP-coated separator demonstrates a good cycling performance even at high charging rates, and the lithium dendrites were not observed on the lithium metal electrode. Therefore, the SEI-LAGP-PP separator can be used as a promising flexible solid electrolyte for solid state lithium batteries.

Enhanced wettability and thermal stability of nano-SiO2/poly（vinyl alcohol）-coated polypropylene composite separators for lithium-ion batteries

To improve the electrolyte wettability and thermal stability of polypropylene （PP） separators, nano- SiO2/poly（vinyl alcohol）-coated PP composite separators were prepared using a simple but efficient sol-gel and dip-coating method. The effects of the tetraethoxysilane （TEOS） dosage on the morphology, wettability, and thermal stability of the composite separators were investigated using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and contact-angle measurements. All the composite separators gave a smaller contact angle, higher electrolyte uptake, and lower thermal shrinkage compared with the PP separator, indicating enhanced wettability and thermal stability. Unlike the case for a traditional physical mixture, Si-O-C covalent bonds were formed in the coating layer. The composite separator with a TEOS dosage of 7.5 wt% had a unique porous structure combining hierarchical pores with interstitial voids, and gave the best wettability and thermal stability. The ionic conductivity of the composite separator containing 7.5 wt% TEOS was 1.26 mS/cm, which is much higher than that of the PP separator （0.74 mS/cm）. The C-rate and cycling performances of batteries assembled with the composite separator containing 7.5 wt% TEOS were better than those of batteries containing PP separators.

IMPROVING THE PROPERTIES OF HDPE BASED SEPARATORS FOR LITHIUM ION BATTERIES BY BLENDING BLOCK WITH COPOLYMER PE-b-PEG

To improve the performances of HDPE-based separators, polyether chains were incorporated into HDPE membranes by blending with poly（ethylene-block-ethylene glycol） （PE-b-PEG） via thermally induced phase separation （TIPS） process. By measuring the composition, morphology, crystallinity, ion conductivity, etc, the influence of PE-b-PEG on structures and properties of the blend separator were investigated. It was found that the incorporated PEG chains yielded higher surface energy for HDPE separator and improved affinity to liquid electrolyte. Thus, the stability of liquid electrolyte trapped in separator was increased while the interfacial resistance between separator and electrode was reduced effectively. The ionic conductivity of liquid electrolyte soaked separator could reach 1.28 ×10^-3 S.cm^-1 at 25℃, and the electrochemical stability window was up to 4.5 V （versus Li^＋/Li）. These results revealed that blending PE-b-PEG into porous HDPE membranes could efficiently improve the performances of PE separators for lithium batteries.

Fabrication of metal-organic framework-based nanofibrous separator via one-pot electrospinning strategy

Metal-organic framework(MOF)/polymer composites have attracted extensive attention in the recent years.However,it still remains challenging to efficiently and effectively fabricate these composite materials.In this study,we propose a facile one-pot electrospinning strategy for preparation of HKUST-1/polyacrylonitrile(PAN)nanofibrous membranes from a homogeneous stock solution containing HKUST-1 precursors and PAN.MOF crystallization and polymer solidification occur simultaneously during the electrospinning process,thus avoiding the issues of aggregation and troublesome multistep fabrication of the conventional approach.The obtained HKUST-1/PAN electrospun membranes show uniform MOF distribution throughout the nanofibers and yield good mechanical properties.The membranes are used as separators in Li-metal full batteries under harsh testing conditions,using an ultrathin Li-metal anode,a high mass loading cathode,and the HKUST-1/PAN nanofibrous separator.The results demonstrate significantly improved cycling performance(capacity retention of 83.1%after 200 cycles)under a low negative to positive capacity ratio(N/P ratio of 1.86).The improvement can be attributed to an enhanced wettability of the separator towards electrolyte stemmed from the nanofibrous structure,and a uniform lithium ion flux stabilized by the open metal sites of uniformly distributed HKUST-1 particles in the membrane during cycling.

Porous Membranes with Special Wettabilities:Designed Fabrication and Emerging Application

Porous materials have become a burgeoning research interest in materials science because of their intrinsic porous characteristics,versatile chemical compositions,and abundant functionalities.Recently,inspired by natural superwetting surfaces originating from the cooperation of surface energy and surface geometry,porous membranes with special wettabilities are finding emerging opportunities associated with a wide variety of environmental and energy-related applications.This review will present an overview of the state-of-the-art research on the designed fabrications and applications of superwetting porous membranes based on zeolites,metal–organic frameworks(MOFs),porous organic materials(POMs),and mesoporous materials.General synthetic strategies for the fabrication of porous membranes(e.g.,hydrothermal/solvothermal crystallization,interfacial polymerization,electrospinning,etc.),and principles for tuning the wettability of porous membranes through surface energy modulation are introduced.Furthermore,their emerging applications as oil–water separation membranes,lithium-ionbattery separators,self-cleaning layers,and anticorrosion coatings are demonstrated.Finally,we emphasize on future perspectives regarding the development of superwetting porous membranes for practical applications.

Pyrolyzed bacterial cellulose/graphene oxide sandwich interlayer for lithium–sulfur batteries

Herein, a facile strategy for the synthesis of sandwich pyrolyzed bacterial cellulose（PBC）/graphene oxide（GO） composite was reported simply by utilizing the large-scale regenerated biomass bacterial cellulose as precursor. The unique and delicate structure where three-dimensional interconnected bacterial cellulose（BC） network embedded in two-dimensional GO skeleton could not only work as an effective barrier to retard polysulfide diffusion during the charge/discharge process to enhance the cyclic stability of the Li–S battery, but also offer a continuous electron transport pathway for the improved rate capability.As a result, by utilizing pure sulfur as cathodes, the Li–S batteries assembled with PBC/GO interlayer can still exhibit a capacity of nearly 600 mAh·g^-1 at 3C and only 0.055% capacity decay per cycle can be observed over 200 cycles. Additionally, the cost-efficient and environmentfriendly raw materials may enable the PBC/GO sandwich interlayer to be an advanced configuration for Li–S batteries.