SAN JOSE, Calif., December 05, 2024 -- (BUSINESS WIRE)-- QuantumScape Corporation (NYSE: QS), a leader in solid-state lithium-metal battery technology, today announced that next-generation heat treatment equipment for its separator production process, Cobra, has been developed, delivered, installed and released for initial separator processing.
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.
Multifunctional separators offer new possibilities to the incorporation of ceramics into Li-ion battery separators. SiO 2 chemically grafted on a PE separator improves the adhesion strength, thermal stability (<5% shrinkage at 120 °C for 30 min), and electrolyte wettability as compared with the physical SiO 2 coating on a PE separator .
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.
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.
Thus, it is essential to understand the manufacturing processes and resulting properties of commercial separators. These separators should be carefully designed and finely controlled to guarantee safe functioning in cells and battery performance.