Ether modified poly(ether ether ketone) nonwoven membrane with excellent wettability and stability as a lithium ion battery separator

In this study, poly(ether ether ketone) is first chloromethylated to improve the solubility and is later used for nonwoven membrane fabrication by electrospinning. Finally, the chloromethyl group was converted to the ethyl ether group and dibenzyl ether group in a hot alkaline solution. The abundant polar groups endow the membrane with excellent wettability, reducing the contact angle to 0°. The polymer matrix is crosslinked by dibenzyl ether group, endowing the membrane with excellent stability (insolubility in many solvents, and ultra-low swelling in the electrolyte at 80 °C) and good anti-shrinkage property (0% at 180 °C). The electrospinning-fabricated membrane remains stable until 4.812 V (vs. Li+/Li), meeting the requirement for use in lithium ion batteries. The interwoven structure of the nonwoven membrane effectively gives rise to the high electrolyte uptake of 215.8%. The ionic conductivity of the electrolyte-swelled electrospinning-fabricated membrane is 51% higher than that of the electrolyte-swelled Celgard membrane. As a result, the lithium ion battery with this nonwoven membrane exhibits an enhanced rate performance (up to 42.5% higher than the lithium ion battery with a PP separator) and satisfactory cycling performance.