Effects of E-beam Irradiation on Physical and Electrochemical Properties of Inorganic Nanoparticle Separators with Different Particle Sizes

The effects of electron beam curing on the mechanical, thermal and electrochemical properties of inorganic nanoparticle based separators (IPSs) with various particle size distributions were investigated. We prepared IPSs consisting of 400 and 50 nm sized particles by varying the content of the 50 nm particles in the range from 0 to 100%. Al2O3 nanoparticles were successfully coated on a porous nonwoven matrix and then the effects of e-beam irradiation treatment as a function of the particle size were investigated. As the size of particles used for the separator was decreased, the mechanical and ionic conductivity of the IPS were greatly enhanced by the simple curing procedure using e-beam irradiation. The c-rate performance of the non-cured IPS prepared by blending the 400 and 50 nm sized Al2O3 was better than those of the IPSs based on the pure 400 and 50 nm particles. The c-rate performances were further improved by the e-beam treatment. (C) 2011 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/1.3562203] All rights reserved.