Lithium-ion battery separators are receiving increased consideration from the scientific community. Single-layer and multilayer separators are well-established technologies, and the materials used span from polyolefins to blends and composites of fluorinated polymers.
Separators in lithium batteries are crucial for ion transport and preventing dendrite formation. Failure mechanisms like dendrite growth that can undermine separator effectiveness. Innovations in separator design are essential for improving battery performance and safety.
The literature on lithium metal battery separators reveals a significant evolution in design and materials over time . Initially, separators were basic polymer films designed for lithium-ion batteries, focusing primarily on preventing short-circuits and allowing ionic conductivity [, , ].
Natural cellulose and regenerated cellulose both are abundant and reasonably priced and can be facilely processed into separators for lithium batteries via various methods, including coating, phase separation, electrospinning, papermaking, etc., making them suitable for lithium battery separators in terms of mass production.
Cellulose-based separators for lithium batteries manufactured by coating can be divided into three types. The first category points to coating diverse materials on the cellulose substrate, including ceramic particles and polymers.
To enhance the thermal stability of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) , a novel ceramic-coated separator has been developed by integrating one-dimensional silica tubes (ST) onto one side of a commercial polyethylene (PE) porous separator (Fig. 5 b).