Improving the performance of paper-based separator for lithium-ion batteries application by cellulose fiber acetylation and metal-organic framework coating

Abstract

Paper-based separator for lithium-ion battery application has attracted great attention due to its good electrolyte affinity and thermal stability. To avoid the short circuit by the micron-sized pores of paper and improve the electrochemical properties of paper-based separator, cellulose fibers were acetylated followed by wet papermaking and metal-organic framework coating. Due to the strong intermolecular interaction between acetylated cellulose fibers and N,N-dimethylformamide, the resulting separator exhibited compact microstructure. The zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 coating endowed the separator with enhanced electrolyte affinity (electrolyte contact angle of 0°), ionic conductivity (1.26 mS·cm^–1), interfacial compatibility (284 Ω), lithium ion transfer number (0.61) and electrochemical stability window (4.96 V). The assembled LiFePO₄/Li battery displayed an initial discharge capacity of 146.10 mAh·g^–1 at 0.5 C with capacity retention of 99.71% after 100 cycles and good rate performance. Our proposed strategy would provide a novel perspective for the design of high-performance paper-based separators for battery applications.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

paper-based separators / lithium-ion batteries / acetylation / metal-organic framework coating

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Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Basic Ability Improvement Project for Young Teachers in Guangxi Colleges and Universities (Grant No. 2023KY0396), Doctoral Research Start-up Fund of Nanning Normal University (Grant No. 602021239438), the Scientific and Technological Project of Henan Province (Grant No. 232102230071), the Key Scientific Research Projects of Henan Higher Education Institutions (Grant No. 23B550006) and Foundation of Central Laboratory of Xinyang Agriculture and Forestry University (Grant No. FCL202110).

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-024-2495-0 and is accessible for authorized users.

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