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Fabrication of metal-organic framework-based nanofibrous separator via one-pot electrospinning strategy

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Abstract

Metal-organic framework (MOF)/polymer composites have attracted extensive attention in the recent years. However, it still remains challenging to efficiently and effectively fabricate these composite materials. In this study, we propose a facile one-pot electrospinning strategy for preparation of HKUST-1/polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibrous membranes from a homogeneous stock solution containing HKUST-1 precursors and PAN. MOF crystallization and polymer solidification occur simultaneously during the electrospinning process, thus avoiding the issues of aggregation and troublesome multistep fabrication of the conventional approach. The obtained HKUST-1/PAN electrospun membranes show uniform MOF distribution throughout the nanofibers and yield good mechanical properties. The membranes are used as separators in Li-metal full batteries under harsh testing conditions, using an ultrathin Li-metal anode, a high mass loading cathode, and the HKUST-1/PAN nanofibrous separator. The results demonstrate significantly improved cycling performance (capacity retention of 83.1% after 200 cycles) under a low negative to positive capacity ratio (N/P ratio of 1.86). The improvement can be attributed to an enhanced wettability of the separator towards electrolyte stemmed from the nanofibrous structure, and a uniform lithium ion flux stabilized by the open metal sites of uniformly distributed HKUST-1 particles in the membrane during cycling.

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Acknowledgements

We sincerely thank the State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering at Zhejiang University (No. SKL-ChE-20D01), the Program for Guangdong Introducing Innovative and Entrepreneurial Teams (No. 2017ZT07C291), Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (No. KQTD20170810141424366), 2019 Special Program for Central Government Guiding Local Science and Technology Development: Environmental Purification Functional Materials Research Platform, and Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials Product Engineering (No. ZDSYS20190911164401990) for supporting this research work. The authors also thank Ms. Na Zheng, Ms. Sudan Shen, Ms. Li Xu and Ms. Qun Pu in the analysis center of the State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering at Zhejiang university for the help on performing SEM, TEM, TGA measurement and tensile test, respectively.

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Author notes

  1. Congcong Chen and Weidong Zhang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Lab of Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    Congcong Chen, He Zhu & Bo-Geng Li

  2. Institute of Pharmaceutical Engineering, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    Weidong Zhang & Yingying Lu

  3. School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518172, China

    He Zhu & Shiping Zhu

  4. Department of Chemical Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4L7, Canada

    Shiping Zhu

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  1. Congcong Chen
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Correspondence to He Zhu or Shiping Zhu.

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Chen, C., Zhang, W., Zhu, H. et al. Fabrication of metal-organic framework-based nanofibrous separator via one-pot electrospinning strategy. Nano Res. 14, 1465–1470 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-3203-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-3203-0

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