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Separators with Biomineralized Zirconia Coatings for Enhanced Thermo- and Electro-Performance of Lithium-Ion Batteries
journal contribution
posted on 2017-06-14, 00:00 authored by Jun-Ke Pi, Guang-Peng Wu, Hao-Cheng Yang, Christopher G. Arges, Zhi-Kang XuPorous separators are key components
for lithium-ion batteries
(LIBs) and they have drawn considerable attention because of their
vital role in governing battery cost and performance (e.g., power
density, safety, and longevity). Here, zirconia-coated separators
were fabricated via a facile biomineralization process with the aim
to improve the performance of commercialized polypropylene separators.
The as-prepared organic–inorganic composite separators show
excellent thermal stability, even at the melting temperature (160 °C)
of polypropylene. This is due to the well-distributed zirconia coatings
on the separator surfaces. Furthermore, the interfacial impedance
of the composite separators is only 343.8 Ω, which is four times
lower than the pristine polypropylene ones. The results demonstrate
an attractive method to prepare organic–inorganic composite
separators with outstanding properties, which makes them promising
candidates for high-performance LIBs.