Li Huisi, Askari Sadegh, Kulachenko Artem, Ek Monica, Sevastyanova Olena
KTH-Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Fiber and Polymer Technology, Teknikringen 56-58, Stockholm SE-100 44, Sweden.
KTH-Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Fiber and Polymer Technology, Teknikringen 56-58, Stockholm SE-100 44, Sweden.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2025 Feb;290:138711. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.138711. Epub 2024 Dec 13.
Aqueous zinc-ion batteries have gained significant interest, offering several distinct advantages over conventional lithium-ion batteries owing to their compelling low cost, enhanced battery safety, and excellent environmental friendliness. Nevertheless, the unfortunate growth of zinc dendrites during cycling leads to poor electrochemical performance of zinc batteries, primarily attributed to the diminished wet mechanical properties and limited electrolyte uptake of existing commercial separators. Herein, a bio-based separator was developed from sustainable resources using natural polymers derived from wood pulp to replace fossil-based polyolefin separators. The inherent hydrophilicity and swelling ability of cellulose fibers provide separators with superior electrolyte wettability and uptake. Notably, the structural reinforcement provided by lignin, especially after hot pressing, enhances the separator's wet mechanical integrity and performance during battery cycling. These improvements contribute to the separator's more stable electrochemical performance and improved ion transport properties. Separators composed of lignin-rich microfibrillated cellulose fibers showed superior dimensional stability under heat compared to Celgard, ensuring higher thermal safety and enhanced performance of aqueous zinc-ion batteries. Our results reveal the great potential of lignin-rich cellulose-based separators for future zinc-ion batteries.
水系锌离子电池已引起广泛关注，由于其成本低廉、电池安全性高且环境友好性极佳，与传统锂离子电池相比具有若干显著优势。然而，循环过程中不幸出现的锌枝晶生长导致锌电池的电化学性能不佳，这主要归因于现有商用隔膜的湿态机械性能下降和电解液吸收有限。在此，利用源自木浆的天然聚合物从可持续资源开发出一种生物基隔膜，以取代基于化石原料的聚烯烃隔膜。纤维素纤维固有的亲水性和溶胀能力为隔膜提供了优异的电解液润湿性和吸收能力。值得注意的是，木质素提供的结构增强作用，尤其是在热压后，增强了隔膜在电池循环过程中的湿态机械完整性和性能。这些改进有助于隔膜实现更稳定的电化学性能并改善离子传输特性。与Celgard相比，由富含木质素的微纤化纤维素纤维组成的隔膜在加热下表现出卓越的尺寸稳定性，确保了水系锌离子电池更高的热安全性和增强的性能。我们的结果揭示了富含木质素的纤维素基隔膜在未来锌离子电池中的巨大潜力。
