Dual-Modified Electrospun Fiber Membrane as Separator with Excellent Safety Performance and High Operating Temperature for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Polyacrylonitrile/Boric acid/Melamine/the delaminated BN nanosheets electrospun fiber membrane (PB 3 N 1 BN) with excellent mechanical property, high thermal stability, superior flame-retardant performance, and good wettability are fabricated by electrospinning PAN/DMF/H 3 BO 3 /C 3 H 6 N 6 / the delaminated BN nanosheets (BNNSs) homogeneous viscous suspension and followed by a heating treatment. BNNSs are obtained by delaminating the bulk h-BN in isopropyl alcohol (IPA) with an assistance of Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). Benefiting from the cross-linked pore structure and high-temperature stability of BNNSs, PB 3 N 1 BN electrospun fiber membrane delivers high thermal dimensional stability (almost no size contraction at 200 °C), excellent mechanical property (19.1 MPa), good electrolyte wettability (contact angle about 0°), and excellent flame retardancy (minimum total heat release of 3.2 MJ m -2 ). Moreover, the assembled LiFePO 4 /PB 3 N 1 BN/Li asymmetrical battery using LiFePO 4 as the cathode and Li as the anode has a high capacity (169 mAh g -1 at 0.5 C), exceptional rate capability (129 mAh g -1 at 5 C), the prominent cycling stability without obvious decay after 400 cycles, and a good discharge capacity of 152 mAh g -1 at a high temperature of 80 °C. This work offers a new structural design strategy toward separators with excellent mechanical performance, good wettability, and high thermal stability for lithium-ion batteries.