Electron beam irradiation modified electrospun polyvinylidene fluoride/polyacrylonitrile fibrous separators for safe lithium‐ion batteries

Abstract This work aims to obtain more hydrophilic and thermal stable electrospun fibrous membranes for lithium‐ion battery separators. For this purpose, the polyvinylidene fluoride/polyacrylonitrile (PVDF/PAN) separators are fabricated via electrospinning and modified by an electron beam with different doses. These preparation processes are simple, fast, and environmentally friendly. As the same time, the physical and electrochemical properties of these separators are investigated in detail. The results indicated that all the irradiated PVDF/PAN (the mass ratio of PVDF and PAN is 1:1) separators can maintain a complete structure till 170°C due to their cross‐linking structure. Besides, the 150‐kGy‐irradiated PVDF/PAN separator exhibits high porosity (82%), excellent electrolyte absorption (497%), and high ionic conductivity (3.19 mS cm −1 ). As a consequence, the cells with 150‐kGy‐irradiated PVDF/PAN separators show better the C‐rate performance and cycling stability than those of the cells with polypropylene separators and nonirradiated PVDF/PAN separators.