UC Berkeley

In lithium batteries, a porous separator filled with an electrolyte is placed in between the electrodes. Properties of the separator such as porosity and wettability strongly influence the conductivity of the electrolyte-separator composite. This study focuses on three commercial separators: a single layer polypropylene (Celgard 2500), a trilayer polypropylene-polyethylene-polypropylene (PP-PE-PP), and a porous polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Electron microscopy was used to characterize the pore structure, and these experiments reveal large differences in pore morphology. The separators were soaked in both carbonate- and perfluoropolyether-based electrolytes. The conductivity of the neat electrolytes (σ0) varied from 6.46 × 10-6 to 1.76 × 10-2 S cm-1. The porosity and wettability of the separator affect the electrolyte uptake that in turn affect the conductivity of electrolyte-separator composites. The conductivity of the electrolyte-separator composites (σ) was found to follow a master equation, σ = 0.51·σ0·φc3.2±0.2, where φc is the volume fraction of the electrolyte in each separator.