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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Chem.
Sec. Electrochemistry
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fchem.2025.1555323
This article is part of the Research Topic Electrochemistry of Rechargeable Aqueous Metal-ion batteries: Recent Advances and Future Opportunities View all articles

Electrospun MXene/Polyimide Nanofiber Composite Separator for Enhancing Thermal Stability and Ion Transport of Lithium-Ion Batteries

Provisionally accepted
Yitian Wu Yitian Wu Wenhui Wei Wenhui Wei Tianxue Feng Tianxue Feng Wenwen Li Wenwen Li Xiaoyu Wang Xiaoyu Wang Tao Wu Tao Wu Xingshuang Zhang Xingshuang Zhang *
  • Advanced Materials Institute, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Safety of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has garnered significant attention. As an essential component of batteries, the separator plays a crucial role in separating the positive and negative electrodes, preventing short circuits, and allowing ion transport.Therefore, it is necessary to develop a high-performance separator that is both thermally stable and capable of rapid Li + transport. Polyimide (PI) is a material with high thermal stability, but low electrolyte wettability and high interfacial resistance of PI restrict its application in high-performance LIBs batteries. MXene possesses excellent mechanical properties and good electrolyte affinity. PI/MXene nanofiber composite separator. combines the high thermal stability of PI with the superior electrolyte wettability of MXene. It exhibits a high tensile strength of 19.6 MPa, low bulk resistance (2.5 Ω), and low interfacial resistance (174 Ω), as well as a low electrolyte contact angle of 29°, while retaining the high-temperature resistance and flame retardancy of PI. Batteries assembled with this composite separator demonstrated a specific capacity of 111.0 mAh g⁻¹ and a capacity retention rate of 66% at 2C. In long-term cycling tests of LiFePO₄ half-cells at 1C, after 200 charge-discharge cycles, the PI/MXene battery showed a discharge specific capacity of 126.7 mAh g -1 and a capacity retention rate of 91%. Additionally, the battery operated normally at 120°C. The composite separator, by integrating the high thermal stability of PI with the excellent electrolyte wettability and conductivity of MXene, demonstrates significant advantages in enhancing battery safety and cycling performance. Through this composite structure can provide a more reliable and safe solution for high-performance LIBs.

    Keywords: lithium-ion batteries, Separator, Thermal stability, Polyimide, Nanofibers, MXene

    Received: 04 Jan 2025; Accepted: 05 Feb 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Wu, Wei, Feng, Li, Wang, Wu and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Xingshuang Zhang, Advanced Materials Institute, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.