Jeong Hanjin, Kim Sohee, Gil Manjae, Song Sanghoon, Kim Tae-Ho, Lee Kyung Jin
Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, College of Engineering, Chungnam National University, 99 Daehak-ro (st), Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-764, Korea.
Center for Membranes, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, 141, Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34114, Korea.
Polymers (Basel). 2020 Oct 1;12(10):2267. doi: 10.3390/polym12102267.
Nonwoven nanofiber webs from polyolefin show great potential in various fields such as nanofilters, high performance membranes and separators in lithium ion batteries (LiB). Although nonwoven microfiber webs can be obtained by the well-established melt-blown method, it is relatively difficult to produce nonwoven nanofiber web using polyolefin (polyethylene and polypropylene). There have been several reports on the preparation of polyolefin nanofibers by melt-electrospinning, although this approach presents several intrinsic disadvantages, i.e., high processing costs, the requirement of complex equipment, and poor control over pore size or fiber diameter. Solution-based electrospinning has the potential to overcome the drawbacks of melt-electrospinning, but the solubility of most polyolefin is poor. In this study, we found that poly-1-butene, a member of the poly(alpha-olefin) family, can be used in the electrospinning process. We set the concentration of the polymeric solution for electrospinning at 0.65-1.7 g/mL. Here, we report on the fabrication of nonwoven fiber webs composed of poly-1-butene and their copolymers. The diameter of the nonwoven fiber mat was 0.2-0.4 μm, which can be applicable for shutdown layer. As a representative application, we prepared a poly-1-butene nanofiber separator with an appropriate pore size by electrospinning for use as the shut-down layer of a next-generation LiB. The PB-based nanofiber mat provided shutdown ability at around 100 to 120 °C.
聚烯烃制成的非织造纳米纤维网在纳米过滤器、高性能膜以及锂离子电池（LiB）的隔膜等各个领域都展现出了巨大潜力。尽管通过成熟的熔喷法可以获得非织造微纤维网，但使用聚烯烃（聚乙烯和聚丙烯）生产非织造纳米纤维网相对困难。已有多篇关于通过熔体静电纺丝制备聚烯烃纳米纤维的报道，不过这种方法存在一些固有缺点，即加工成本高、需要复杂设备以及对孔径或纤维直径的控制不佳。基于溶液的静电纺丝有潜力克服熔体静电纺丝的缺点，但大多数聚烯烃的溶解性较差。在本研究中，我们发现聚（α - 烯烃）家族的成员聚 - 1 - 丁烯可用于静电纺丝过程。我们将用于静电纺丝的聚合物溶液浓度设定为0.65 - 1.7 g/mL。在此，我们报道由聚 - 1 - 丁烯及其共聚物组成的非织造纤维网的制备。非织造纤维垫的直径为0.2 - 0.4μm，可适用于关闭层。作为一个代表性应用，我们通过静电纺丝制备了具有合适孔径大小的聚 - 1 - 丁烯纳米纤维隔膜，用作下一代锂离子电池的关闭层。基于PB的纳米纤维垫在约100至120°C时具备关闭能力。
