Nanofiber Production Equipment| Sustainable APTES-Modified Nano-TiO,/PVA CompositeNanofibrous Separators for Thermally Stable Lithium-lonBattery

Academician Zhu Meifang's Team at Donghua University in Adv. Funct. Mater. (IF 18.5): APTES-Modified Nano-TiO2/PVA Composite Nanofiber Separator for Thermally Stable Lithium-Ion Batteries

Challenge: Commercial separators must overcome several major challenges before being effectively applied in high-energy-density batteries. These issues include low porosity, poor electrolyte wettability, and insufficient dimensional stability.

Approach: Academician Zhu Meifang's team at Donghua University prepared electrospun nanofiber separators using 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES)-modified nano-TiO2 (MNT) with improved dispersibility and interfacial compatibility, isocyanate-based crosslinkers, and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as spinning solution components.

Innovation 1: The prepared MNT/PVA separator exhibits exceptional properties including high mechanical strength (33.2 MPa), outstanding thermal dimensional stability (no shrinkage at 200°C), high porosity (82.5%), substantial electrolyte absorption (566.1%), and excellent ionic conductivity (1.54 mS cm−1).

Innovation 2: When applied in coin cells, the MNT/PVA separator retained over 88.3% of initial capacity (137.9 mAh g−1) after 100 cycles at 0.5C.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202504826