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Electron-beam-irradiated polyethylene membrane with improved electrochemical and thermal properties for lithium-ion batteries

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Abstract

The effects of electron-beam irradiation on the physicochemical and electrochemical properties of polyethylene (PE) separators are investigated. The high-energy electron-beam irradiation creates carbonyl bands on the surface of bare PE separators, however, it does not affect morphology and pore structure of the separators. In addition, cells employing the electron-beam-irradiated PE separators clearly exhibit better ionic conductivity and rate capability without any degradation in cycling performance compared to cells employing the bare PE separator. This improvement is explained by a formation of new functional group on PE surface—the electron-beam irradiation creates carbonyl group on the surface of the PE separator and it readily facilitates the migration of Li+ and improves solvent affinity of the PE separators. Furthermore, the thermal stability of PE separators is effectively enhanced by irradiating them with electron beams. The thermal shrinkage of the electron-beam-irradiated PE separators is observed to be much lower than that of bare PE separators, resulting in an increased gap between the shut-down and melting integrity temperatures. From these results, it is believed that the electron-beam irradiation can be considered as an effective approach to enhance electrochemical and thermal properties of PE separator.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Energy Efficiency and Resources program of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (Project No. 20112010100140) and R&D program (Project No. 10041942) of the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, Republic of Korea.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Battery Research Center, Korea Electronics Technology Institute, Sungnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, 463-816, Republic of Korea

    Ki Jae Kim, Min-Sik Park, Taeeun Yim, Ji-Sang Yu & Young-Jun Kim

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  1. Ki Jae Kim
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  2. Min-Sik Park
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  3. Taeeun Yim
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  4. Ji-Sang Yu
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  5. Young-Jun Kim
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Correspondence to Ki Jae Kim.

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Kim, K.J., Park, MS., Yim, T. et al. Electron-beam-irradiated polyethylene membrane with improved electrochemical and thermal properties for lithium-ion batteries. J Appl Electrochem 44, 345–352 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-014-0661-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-014-0661-7

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