A core-shell structured polyacrylonitrile@poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoro propylene) microfiber complex membrane as a separator by co-axial electrospinning

Shuting Yang; Wenhao Ma; Aili Wang; Jifeng Gu; Yanhong Yin

doi:10.1039/c8ra02035c

A core-shell structured polyacrylonitrile@poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoro propylene) microfiber complex membrane as a separator by co-axial electrospinning

RSC Adv. 2018 Jun 27;8(41):23390-23396. doi: 10.1039/c8ra02035c. eCollection 2018 Jun 21.

Authors

Shuting Yang^{1

2

3}, Wenhao Ma^{1

2

3}, Aili Wang^{1

2

3}, Jifeng Gu^{1

2

3}, Yanhong Yin^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan Normal University Xinxiang Henan 453007 P. R. China yyh3326439@foxmail.com.
² National & Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Motive Power and Key Materials Xinxiang Henan 453007 China.
³ Collaborative Innovation Center of Henan Province for Motive Power and Key Materials Xinxiang Henan 453007 China.

Abstract

A novel and facile core-shell structured polyacrylonitrile@poly (vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoro propylene) (PAN@PVDF-HFP) microfiber complex membrane was designed and fabricated via co-axial electrospinning, which was used as a separator in lithium-ion batteries. Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoro propene) (PVDF-HFP) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) were used as the shell (outer) layer and core (inner), respectively. Structure, surface morphology, porosity, and thermal properties of the core-shell structured microfiber membranes were investigated. Compared with the traditional commercial porous polyethylene (PE) separator, the PAN@PVDF-HFP microfiber complex membranes exhibited higher porosity, superior thermal stability, better electrolyte wettability and higher ionic conductivity. As a consequence, batteries assembled with the PAN@PVDF-HFP microfiber complex membrane display better cycling stability and superior rate performance compared to those with the PE separator.