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A Nacre-Inspired Separator Coating for Impact-Tolerant Lithium Batteries
Yong-Hui Song1,2, Kai-Jin Wu3, Tian-Wen Zhang1
1Division of Nanomaterials and Chemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China.
Advanced Materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
|November 7, 2019
Summary
Researchers developed a nacre-inspired coating for lithium battery separators, enhancing impact resistance and preventing short circuits. This novel design improves battery safety and performance under stress.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Electrochemistry
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Commercial ceramic nanoparticle-coated separators in lithium batteries are brittle and prone to short circuits under impact.
- This brittleness poses significant safety risks in lithium battery applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a nacre-inspired coating for polyolefin separators to enhance impact tolerance in lithium batteries.
- To improve the safety and cycling stability of lithium-metal pouch cells under external shock.
Main Methods:
- Coating microporous polyolefin separators with ion-conductive porous multilayers of highly oriented aragonite platelets.
- Fabricating and testing lithium-metal pouch cells with the novel coated separators and commercial separators under external impact and shock conditions.
Main Results:
- The nacre-inspired coating effectively dissipates localized stress during impact through platelet sliding.
- Lithium-metal pouch cells with the aragonite platelet coated separators demonstrated good cycling stability under external shock.
- In contrast, cells with commercial ceramic nanoparticle coated separators experienced rapid short circuits.
Conclusions:
- Nacre-inspired aragonite platelet coatings significantly improve the impact tolerance and safety of lithium battery separators.
- This biomimetic approach offers a promising strategy for developing safer and more robust lithium batteries.
