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.
The safety issue, which is a major concern that limits battery applications, could be mitigated by increasing the separator's mechanical strength, thermal stability, and shutting the batteries down below thermal runaway temperature through various functionalization approaches.
Separators for liquid electrolyte Li-ion batteries can be classified into porous polymeric membranes, nonwoven mats, and composite separators. Porous membranes are most commonly used due to their relatively low processing cost and good mechanical properties.
There are many important components in the LiB, one of which is a separator that serves to block short circuits between the anode and cathode of the battery while providing a way for ion exchange to continue. This article summarizes important information related to battery separator technology.
Ceramic-coated separators and high melting point polymer materials offer some improvement in thermal stability and abuse tolerance for lithium-ion cell separators but, in general, more evaluation is needed to quantify the safety impact of these new separators.
It is crucial to obtain an in-depth understanding of the design, preparation/ modification, and characterization of the separator because structural modifications of the separator can effectively modulate the ion diffusion and dendrite growth, thereby optimizing the electrochemical performance and high safety of the battery.