Silk Fibroin Separators: A Step Toward Lithium-Ion Batteries with Enhanced Sustainability

Battery separators based on silk fibroin (SF) have been prepared aiming at improving the environmental issues of lithium-ion batteries. SF materials with three different morphologies were produced: membrane films (SF-F), sponges prepared by lyophilization (SF-L), and electrospun membranes (SF-E). Th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ACS applied materials & interfaces 2018-02, Vol.10 (6), p.5385-5394
Main Authors: Pereira, Rui F.P, Brito-Pereira, Ricardo, Gonçalves, Renato, Silva, Marco P, Costa, Carlos M, Silva, Maria Manuela, de Zea Bermudez, Verónica, Lanceros-Méndez, Senentxu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Electric Power Supplies
Electrodes
Fibroins - chemistry
Ions
Lithium
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Summary:Battery separators based on silk fibroin (SF) have been prepared aiming at improving the environmental issues of lithium-ion batteries. SF materials with three different morphologies were produced: membrane films (SF-F), sponges prepared by lyophilization (SF-L), and electrospun membranes (SF-E). The latter materials presented a suitable porous three-dimensional microstructure and were soaked with a 1 M LiPF6 electrolyte. The ionic conductivities for SF-L and SF-E were 1.00 and 0.32 mS cm–1 at 20 °C, respectively. A correlation between the fraction of β-sheet conformations and the ionic conductivity was observed. The electrochemical performance of the SF-based materials was evaluated by incorporating them in cathodic half-cells with C-LiFePO4. The discharge capacities of SF-L and SF-E were 126 and 108 mA h g–1, respectively, at the C/2-rate and 99 and 54 mA h g–1, respectively, at the 2C-rate. Furthermore, the capacity retention and capacity fade of the SF-L membrane after 50 cycles at the 2C-rate were 72 and 5%, respectively. These electrochemical results show that a high percentage of β-sheet conformations were of prime importance to guarantee excellent cycling performance. This work demonstrates that SF-based membranes are appropriate separators for the production of environmentally friendlier lithium-ion batteries.
ISSN:1944-8244
1944-8252
DOI:10.1021/acsami.7b13802