Polypropylene separator coated with a thin layer of poly(lithium acrylate‐co‐butyl acrylate) for high‐performance lithium‐ion batteries

ABSTRACT In this paper, poly(lithium acrylate‐co‐butyl acrylate) [P(AALi‐co‐BA)] was synthesized, and a P(AALi‐co‐BA)‐coated polypropylene (PP) separator was prepared by a simple dip‐coating process. In contrast to the conventional thick, dense gel polymer coating layer, a thin P(AALi‐co‐BA) layer was formed on the PP separator, which had less influence on the pore structure of the original PP separator and was beneficial for the migration of lithium ions through the separator. Furthermore, the AALi units in the copolymer could improve the wettability of the separator, while the BA units provided the separator with strong adhesion to the electrodes. As expected, the modified separators showed good wettability, high ionic conductivity, and excellent interface stability. In addition, the cycle stability and rate performance were also improved significantly. This facile, affordable, and effective method has great application potential for the modification of polyolefin‐based separators. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018, 135, 46423.