Preparation of hydroentangled CMC composite nonwoven fabrics as high performance separator for nickel metal hydride battery

Hydroentangling nonwoven process has been attempted to fabricate carding fiber web/meltblown/carding fiber web (CMC) composite nonwoven fabrics with the view to improve the chemical stability and long-term performance of nickel metal hydride (Ni-MH) battery. Hydrophilic polypropylene (PP) meltblown nonwoven fabric was prepared by adding hydrophilic additives in PP melt. Then it was sandwiched into two layers of carding PP fiber web and bonded by hydroentangling process. The mechanical strength, pore size, electrolyte absorption and retention capacity, chemical stability, and electrolytic resistance were investigated in comparison with a commercial sulfonated post-treated separator. The cell performance of hydroentangled CMC composite nonwoven fabrics before and after electrolyte storage was tested by using a stacked Ni-MH battery. These results indicate that hydroentangled CMC composite nonwoven fabric is a kind of promising materials to replace the traditional wet-laid nonwoven fabric as Ni-MH battery separator with better long-term cell performance.