Replacement of commercial glass fiber separator in zinc ion batteries by wet forming of waste ZrO2 fibers

• Published in: Materials letters 2023-01, Vol.331, p.133546, Article 133546
• Main Authors: Xu, Shuai, Nie, Wenqi, Sun, Pengfei, Sun, Jiangdong, Xu, Zhenzhen, Chu, Changliu, Liu, Lianmei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Energy storage and conversion; Fiber technology; Recycling; Separator; Zinc ion batteries
• ISSN: 0167-577X; 1873-4979
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matlet.2022.133546

•ZrO2 separators were prepared for aqueous zinc-ion batteries with waste ZrO2 mats as raw material;•The wettability and thermal stability of ZrO2 separators are superior to commercial GF separators;•The full cell constructed with ZrO2 separators possesses a high specific capacity of 390 mAh·g−1;•The desirable results indicated high-value use of waste ZrO2 mats. In this work, a novel flexible separator-based waste ZrO2 fibers was fabricated via wet net forming technology for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) to replace commercial glass fibers (GF) separators. ZrO2 separator shows ultra-high wettability and heat resistance. The button cell composed of zinc sheet anode, ammonium vanadate cathode, and ZrO2 separators possesses a high specific capacity of 390 mAh·g−1 at a current density 0.15 A·g−1 and outstanding long-term durability of 102 mAh·g−1 after 500 cycles at 5 A·g−1, higher than GF separator at the same condition. Therefore, this work provides a novel perspective for replacing commercial GF separators.