Lithium-based battery separator and method for making the same

1. A lithium-based battery separator, consisting of:

a porous polymer membrane having opposed surfaces;

a porous carbon coating formed on one of the opposed surfaces of the porous polymer membrane; and either

polycations and associated anions incorporated in the porous carbon coating and having a gradient distribution that increases toward the one of the opposed surfaces of the porous polymer membrane, or

polycations and associated anions incorporated in the porous polymer membrane and having a gradient distribution that increases toward an other of the opposed surfaces of the porous polymer membrane.

2. The lithium-based battery separator as defined in claim 1 wherein the polycations and the associated anions have the following structure:

wherein TFSI x − is a bis(trifluoromethyl sulfonyl)imide anion, x ranges from 100 to 100,000, and n ranges from 100 to 100,000.

3. The lithium-based battery separator as defined in claim 1 wherein:

the polycations and associated anions are incorporated in the porous polymer membrane and have a gradient distribution that increases towards the other of the opposed surfaces of the porous polymer membrane;

the polycations and the associated anions have the following structure:

and

TFSI x − is a bis(trifluoromethyl sulfonyl)imide anion, x ranges from 100 to 100,000, and n ranges from 100 to 100,000.

4. A lithium-based battery separator, comprising:

a porous polymer membrane having opposed surfaces;

a porous carbon coating formed on one of the opposed surfaces of the porous polymer membrane; and

polycations incorporated in the porous carbon coating, or in both the porous carbon coating and the porous polymer membrane,

wherein the polycations have a gradient distribution within the porous carbon coating that increases towards the one of the opposed surfaces of the porous polymer membrane.

5. A lithium-based battery, comprising:

a negative electrode;

a positive electrode including an active material;

a separator positioned between the negative electrode and the positive electrode, the separator consisting of:

a porous polymer membrane having opposed surfaces, one of the opposed surfaces facing the positive electrode;

a porous carbon coating formed on the one of the opposed surfaces; and either

polycations and associated anions incorporated in the porous carbon coating and having a gradient distribution that increases toward the one of the opposed surfaces of the porous polymer membrane, or

polycations and associated anions incorporated in the porous polymer membrane and having a gradient distribution that increases toward an other of the opposed surfaces of the porous polymer membrane; and

an electrolyte solution soaking each of the positive electrode, the negative electrode, and the separator.

6. The lithium-based battery as defined in claim 5 wherein the lithium-based battery is a lithium-sulfur battery.

7. The lithium-based battery as defined in claim 5 wherein the lithium-based battery is a lithium ion battery.

8. The lithium-based battery as defined in claim 5 wherein the polycations and the associated anions have the following structure:

wherein TFSI x − is a bis(trifluoromethyl sulfonyl)imide anion, x ranges from 100 to 100,000, and n ranges from 100 to 100,000.

9. The lithium-based battery as defined in claim 5 wherein:

the polycations and associated anions are incorporated in the porous polymer membrane and have a gradient distribution that increases towards the other of the opposed surfaces of the porous polymer membrane;

the polycations and the associated anions have the following structure:

and

TFSI x − is a bis(trifluoromethyl sulfonyl)imide anion, x ranges from 100 to 100,000, and n ranges from 100 to 100,000.

10. The lithium-based battery as defined in claim 5 , wherein the electrolyte solution comprises a lithium salt selected from the group consisting of LiClO 4 , LiAlCl 4 , LiI, LiBr, LiB(C 2 O 4 ) 2 (LiBOB), LiBF 2 (C 2 O 4 ) (LiODFB), LiSCN, LiBF 4 , LiB(C 6 H 5 ) 4 , LiAsF 6 , LiCF 3 SO 3 , LiN(FSO 2 ) 2 (LIFSI), LiN(CF 3 SO 2 ) 2 (LITFSI), LiPF 6 , LiPF 4 (C 2 O 4 ) (LiFOP), LiNO 3 , and mixtures thereof.

11. A method for manufacturing a lithium-based battery separator, the method comprising:

casting a slurry on one of two opposed surfaces of a porous polymer membrane, the slurry including porous carbon particles and polycations; and

exposing the cast slurry to a drying process, thereby forming i) a porous carbon coating on the one of the two opposed surfaces of the porous polymer membrane, and ii) either a gradient distribution of the polycations in the porous carbon coating that increases toward the one of the two opposed surfaces of the porous polymer membrane or a gradient distribution of the polycations in the porous polymer membrane that increases toward an other of the two opposed surfaces of the porous polymer membrane.

12. The method as defined in claim 11 wherein prior to casting the slurry, the method further comprises making a polycation solution and adding the porous carbon particles to the polycation solution.

13. The method as defined in claim 12 , further comprising making the polycation solution by:

titrating a polyethyleneimine aqueous solution to a pH of 7 using a bis(trifluoromethane sulfonyl)imide methanol solution, thereby forming a polycation product in water and methanol;

removing the water and methanol; and

dissolving the polycation product in an organic solvent.

14. The method as defined in claim 12 , further comprising making the porous carbon particles by exposing a carbon precursor to a predetermined temperature in an inert atmosphere thereby carbonizing the carbon precursor.

15. The method as defined in claim 14 wherein the carbon precursor is metal-organic framework-5 (MOF-5).

16. The method as defined in claim 12 wherein the drying process is performed at about 25° C. for about 24 hours.