Experimental and molecular simulating study on promoting electrolyte-immersed mechanical properties of cellulose/lignin separator for lithium-ion battery

Lithium-ion batteries have been developing intensively and earn an unprecedented reputation, yet advanced performance and safety issue still require considerable investigation. Separator is vital to comprehensive properties of batteries, where the mechanical properties are key to breaking through of new-type separator. Unfortunately, electrolyte submersion has caused damage to strength of cellulose separator. Whereupon, in this work, cellulose separator is optimized by introducing lignin particles to promote electrolyte-immersed mechanical strength. Experiments are conducted concerning surface morphology, contact angle, porosity, electrolyte uptake, mechanical properties and electrochemical performance. Molecular simulation is implemented to explore the mechanism of tensile behavior of cellulose and lignin subjected to electrolyte solvents. Experimental results confirm positive effect of lignin addition in improving mechanical properties and simultaneously maintaining impressive electrochemical performance of the cellulose/lignin composites separators. Besides, lignin addition amount of 2.5% and 5% is recommended to achieve promising overall properties. Molecular simulation has successfully unveiled that weakening of cellulose separator submerged in electrolyte is resulted by the deformed cellulose amorphous region and the promoting effect of adding lignin is contributed from the new hydrogen bonds generated between cellulose and lignin molecules. Hopefully, this work provides novel insight on preparing remarkable separator and mechanism of materials behavior.     

Cellulose nanofibrils derived from pulp as a high performance separator for lithium-ion batteries

Cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) from hardwood bleached kraft pulp (HwBKP) are produced via enzymatic, chemical, and mechanical treatment. A nanoporous structured CNF-based separator is produced, and the electrochemical performance, morphology, and thermal stability analyses are performed in comparison to the commercial polyethylene separator. The results obtained show that the electrolyte-philic CNF separator has capacity retention of 88.6% over 200 cycles and very good ionic conductivity and wettability results due to its high hydrophilic nature. At 140°C, the CNF separator was resilient to heat and remained intact. The CNF separator reflects high thermal resistance and good electrolyte uptake properties that are among the mandatory requirements of a separator hence, a promising contender for use in lithium-ion batteries.     

用纳米羟基磷灰石@多孔碳构建锂硫电池高效反应界面

由于正极活性物质硫具有能量密度高、成本低廉和储量丰富等优点,锂硫（Li-S）电池受到了人们的极大关注。然而,锂硫电池充放电过程中产生的多硫化锂的“穿梭效应”严重阻碍了其实用化进程。为了解决这个问题,本研究借助动物软骨的组成和结构特点,制备了纳米羟基磷灰石@多孔碳（nano-HA@CCPC）复合材料,并以此设计了面向正极的锂硫电池隔膜涂层。研究表明,纳米羟基磷灰石不仅对多硫化物具有吸附固定作用,并且对多硫化锂的转化具有催化作用,加快了多硫化锂的氧化还原动力学,有效地提升了活性物质硫的利用率。另外,软骨基碳复合材料的多孔结构形成了很好的导电网络,为电化学反应提供了优良的电子传导路径;也有利于电解液的浸润,加快了离子传输;碳的氮原子掺杂进一步限制了多硫化物的穿梭效应。因此,采用nano-HA@CCPC隔膜涂层的锂硫电池表现出较长的循环寿命、低的容量损失以及高的倍率性能。在0.5 C下,循环325次后,电池仍然能保持815 mAh·g^-1的放电比容量,并且每次的容量衰减率仅为0.051%。nano-HA@CCPC的设计制备将为锂硫电池的发展提供新材料。     

Preparation and Properties of Poly（ether ether ketone）/Carbon Nanotube Modified Polypropylene Janus Composite Separator北大核心CSCD

Lithium-ion batteries （LIBs）have attracted wide attention because of their broad prospects in electric vehicles. However,the safety problems and low multiplier performance of the commercial polyolefin separator limit their further development,due to the poor dimensional thermal stability and low electrolyte absorption rate. Poly（ether ether ketone）（PEEK）and carbon nanotube（CNT）are compounded to coat on polypropylene （PP） to prepare Janus composite separator （PP@C） through the phase inversion method. PP@C composite separator does not deform at 180 ℃ for 0. 5 h（only slight deformation）,illustrating excellent thermal stability. The electrolyte absorption rate of PP@C2 is 193. 8%. The electrolyte uptake rate of the PP@C2 composite membrane was 193. 8%,which was 64. 5% higher than the PP membrane,showing a superduper electrolyte permeability. As a result,the specific discharge capacity of LIBs assembled with PP@C2 composite separator is 157. 6 mA·h/g at 0. 2 C and 129. 8 mA·h/g at 2 C,showing good rate performance with the capacity recovery rate of more than 99%. This might be attributed to the ultra-high thermal stability of PEEK,the good affinity of the electrolyte,the high conductivity of CNT,as well as the uniform dispersion of Li+ ,so that the separator can have excellent electrochemical performance while improving safety. © 2022, Science Press (China). All rights reserved.     

船用气水分离器惯性级流场分析及阻力特性研究

采用二阶全展开ETG有限元与大涡模拟（LES）相结合的算法，对120－20－35－3型船用气水分离器惯性级在不同雷诺数条下的流动进行了模拟，通过其中一组雷诺数条件下计算所得该实验件阻力系数与物理实验所得阻力系数相比较，确定出该雷诺数条件下采用大涡模拟时所需的亚格子应力模型常数，将该常数带入其它各组雷诺数条件下的计算中，并将计算结果与相同条件下的物理实验结果相比较，证实了该常数的通用性。该常数一经确定，对各雷诺数条件下的流场进行分析，结果反映出采用二阶全展开ETG有限元与大涡模拟（LES）相结合的算法可以捕捉到非常丰富的涡系及涡动的时变过程。在流场分析的基础上本文计算了该实验件内的能耗场，计算结果表明实验件内的能耗主要集中在大涡丰富的区段内。     

Poly(aryl ether ketone) composite membrane as a high‐performance lithium‐ion batteries separator

We described the design and synthesis of a modified poly(aryl ether ketone) bearing phenolphthalein and allyl groups (P‐PAEK) via nucleophilic polycondensation. A new kind of composite separator, crosslinked P‐PAEK/polyvinylidene fluoride (c‐P‐PAEK/PVDF) membrane was successfully prepared using phase separation, phase inversion method, and UV crosslinking technique. As a separator of lithium‐ion battery, c‐P‐PAEK/PVDF membrane demonstrates high porosity and uniform distribution of pores with interconnected pathways. Low thermal shrinkage, distinct shut‐down effect, high liquid electrolyte uptake capacity, and exciting liquid electrolyte wettability of the prepared c‐P‐PAEK/PVDF membrane have been revealed through comprehensive study. Moreover, the c‐P‐PAEK/PVDF membrane was applied to assemble a conventional Li/LiFePO₄ coin cell, which exhibited hopeful cell performance. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 2714–2721     

静电纺聚偏氟乙烯@硅藻土锂离子电池隔膜的制备及性能

以聚偏氟乙烯(PVDF)和硅藻土为原料,通过静电纺丝法制备PVDF@硅藻土复合纤维膜,用于锂离子电池隔膜。 研究了隔膜的吸液率、热稳定性和电化学性能等。 添加硅藻土可有效提高复合膜的电解液吸收率和电化学性能,其中吸液率可达623.6%,相比于PVDF膜和聚丙烯(PP)膜具有优异的循环性能和倍率性能。     

Micromegas prototypes with thermo-bond film separators

In this paper we report the results of Micromegas prototypes constructed by attaching micromesh to an anode using thermo-bond films. The excellent metal attaching ability and good dielectical property of this kind of film make it a promising material to be used as avalanche gap spacers. Several prototypes are successfully made. The electron transmission properties are first studied and then the gas gain is measured in argon-isobutane mixtures. The maximum gain of more than 10⁴ is easily obtained. The energy resolutions for ⁵⁵Fe 5.9 keV K_α ray can be better than 20% over one magnitude in gain for different operational gas mixtures and the best energy resolution of 13.7% (FWHM) can be achieved with the gas mixture of 94% argon concentration. The preliminary test results of the prototypes with sensitive area of 45 mm×45 mm without internal support show good uniformity across the sensitive area.     

Confined and Agitated Swirling Flows with Applications in Chemical Engineering

Turbulent, swirling flows are encountered frequently in chemical engineering practice. In this article, experiments and simulations on two classes of swirling flows, viz. agitated flows (stirred tanks), and confined swirling flows are discussed. Results of large-eddy simulations of stirred tank flow are compared with experimental data, mainly phase-resolved LDA data of the flow in the vicinity of the impeller. Next to the average velocity field, also the turbulent kinetic energy, and the anisotropy of the Reynolds stress tensor have been assessed. An important application of confined swirling flow is the cyclone separator (hydrocyclones for the separation of liquids, gas cyclones for gas-solid separation). The flow in a swirl tube geometry exhibiting many of the typical features of swirl flows (e.g. vortex breakdown) is discussed. Furthermore, a large-eddy simulation of the gas flow in a high-efficiency Stairmand cyclone separator is presented. Two examples of process modeling based on flow simulations are briefly treated: orthokinetic agglomeration of crystals in a stirred tank, and particle separation in a cyclone. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Improving the properties of HDPE based separators for lithium ion batteries by blending block with copolymer PE-b-PEG

To improve the performances of HDPE-based separators, polyether chains were incorporated into HDPE membranes by blending with poly(ethylene-block-ethylene glycol) (PE-b-PEG) via thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) process. By measuring the composition, morphology, crystallinity, ion conductivity, etc, the influence of PE-b-PEG on structures and properties of the blend separator were investigated. It was found that the incorporated PEG chains yielded higher surface energy for HDPE separator and improved affinity to liquid electrolyte. Thus, the stability of liquid electrolyte trapped in separator was increased while the interfacial resistance between separator and electrode was reduced effectively. The ionic conductivity of liquid electrolyte soaked separator could reach 1.28 × 10-3 S.cm-1 at 25℃, and the electrochemical stability window was up to 4.5 V (versus Li + /Li). These results revealed that blending PE-b-PEG into porous HDPE membranes could efficiently improve the performances of PE separators for lithium batteries.