A self-adaptive inorganic in-situ separator by particle crosslinking for nonflammable lithium-ion batteries

All-safe liquid-state lithium-ion batteries (ASLS-LIBs) is of great interest as they can potentially combine the safety of all-solid-state batteries with the high performance and low manufacturing cost of traditional liquid-state LIBs. However, the practical success of ASLS-LIBs is bottlenecked by the lack of advanced separator technology that can simultaneously realize high performances in puncturing-tolerability, fire-resistance, and importantly, wetting-capability with non-flammable liquid-electrolytes. Here, we propose a concept of inorganic in-situ separator (IISS) by hybrid-sol physical crosslinking directly onto the electrode surface to address the above challenges. Particularly, the hybrid-sol is designed with silica nanoparticles as the building block and poly(vinylidene difluoride) nanoparticles as the crosslinking agent. The critical factors for controlling the IISS microstructures and properties have been systematically investigated. The advantages of the IISS have been confirmed by its fast wetting with various fire-resistant liquid-electrolytes, customizable thickness and porous structures, robust interface with planar or three-dimensional (3D)-structured electrodes, and importantly, unexpected self-adaptability against puncturing. Enabled by the above merits, a fire-resistant ASLS-LIB is successfully assembled and demonstrated with stable electrochemical performance. This sol-crosslinked IISS may open an avenue for the studies on the next-generation separator technology, cell assembling, solid electrolyte processing as well as non-flammable secondary batteries. © 2024 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. and Science Press.