Multi-functional ceramic-coated separator for lithium-ion batteries safety tolerance improvement

Abstract The separator is used to isolate the cathode and anode material, playing an important role in the safety of battery, which prevents internal short circuit of battery and provides lithium ions free flow channels. In this paper, based on the commercial ceramic-coated polyethylene (PE) separator (CPES), low-melting point PE microspheres were mixed in ceramic-coating to form the functionalized PE separator (FPES) for improving the safety tolerance of large scale lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Compared to the CPES shutdown temperature of ~135 °C, the shutdown temperature of FPES significantly decreased to ~110 °C. Compared with 27 Ah pouch battery assembled by CPES, the FPES can effectively improve the tolerance of overcharge and internal short circuit without sacrificing the electrochemical performance. In addition, a novel internal short circuit of FPES protection mechanism model was proposed. Molten PE microspheres of FPES would flow along the edge of broken hole, reducing the contact probability between the cathode and anode, and ultimately increasing the resistance of internal short circuit by 41% compared to CPES. Therefore, the obtained results provide important implications for the development of safer separator and LIBs.