Hierarchical Chitin Fibers with Aligned Nanofibrillar Architectures: A Nonwoven-Mat Separator for Lithium Metal Batteries

Abstract

Here, we introduce regenerated fibers of chitin (Chiber), the second most abundant biopolymer after cellulose, and propose its utility as a nonwoven fiber separator for lithium metal batteries (LMBs) that exhibits an excellent electrolyte-uptaking capability and Li-dendrite-mitigating performance. Chiber is produced by a centrifugal jet-spinning technique, which allows a simple and fast production of Chibers consisting of hierarchically aligned self-assembled chitin nanofibers. Following the scrutinization on the Chiber-Li-ion interaction via computational methods, we demonstrate the potential of Chiber as a nonwoven mat-type separator by monitoring it in Li-O₂ and Na-O₂ cells.