Low‐Cost Self‐Assembled Oxide Separator for Rechargeable Batteries
Abstract Rechargeable battery cells having a liquid electrolyte require a separator permeable to the electrolyte between the two electrodes. Because the electrodes change their volume during charge and discharge, the porous separators are flexible polymers with an electronic energy gap E g large enough for the Fermi levels of the two electrodes to be within it. In this work, a porous film of self‐assembled SiO 2 nanoparticles is developed as the separator for a Li‐ion battery with a liquid electrolyte. This coating does not require the plasticity of a polymer membrane and has the required large E g . If adsorbed water is removed from the SiO 2 surface, the nanoparticles bond to one another and to an oxide cathode to form a plastic self‐assembling porous layer into which the liquid electrolyte can penetrate. The Li‐ion batteries with a LiCoO 2 cathode coated with SiO 2 as a separator show similar performance to cells with a traditional polypropylene separator and improved cyclability with a reduced volume of liquid electrolyte owing to the electrolyte wetting properties of the SiO 2 nanoparticles. The SiO 2 nanoparticles are easy to prepare, cheap, and environmentally friendly.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 1529653
- Journal Information:
- Advanced Functional Materials, Journal Name: Advanced Functional Materials Journal Issue: 35 Vol. 29; ISSN 1616-301X
- Publisher:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- Germany
- Language:
- English
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