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2026 Vol.58, Issue 4 Preview Page

Original Paper

Effects of Nanofiber Fabrication Methods and Silane Modification on the Performance of Cellulose-Based Lithium-Ion Battery Separators

나노섬유 제조 공정 및 실란 개질에 따른 셀룰로오스 기반 이차전지 분리막의 특성 평가

Yejin Kim1
,
Jaemin Jo2
,
Junghoon Yang3†
,
Bonwook Koo4‡
김 예진1
,
조 재민2
,
양 정훈3†
,
구 본욱4‡
1Department of Wood & Paper Science, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kyungpook National University
2Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kyungpook National University
3Carbon and Light Material Application Research Group, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology
4Major in Wood & Paper Science, School of Forestry, Science and Landscape Architecture, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kyungpook National University
1경북대학교 농업생명과학대학 임산공학과, 대학원생
2경북대학교 농업생명과학대학 농업과학기술연구소, 박사후연구원
3한국생산기술연구원 전북기술실용화본부, 선임 연구원
4경북대학교 농업생명과학대학 산림과학·조경학부 임산공학전공, 교수
†Corresponding Author: E-mail: jyang@kitech.re.kr (Address: Carbon and Light Materials Group Jeonbuk Regional Division, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH), Jeonju, 54853, Republic of Korea)
‡Co-Corresponding Author: E-mail: bkoo@knu.ac.kr (Address: Major in Wood & Paper Science, School of Forestry, Science and Landscape Architecture, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 41566, Republic of Korea)
30 August 2026. pp. 110-125
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Abstract

This study investigates the effects of cellulose nanofiber (CNF) fabrication methods and silane modification on the physicochemical and electrochemical properties of lithium-ion battery separators. Three distinct CNFs—refined CNF (RE-CNF), enzymatically pretreated CNF (EN-CNF), and carboxymethylated CNF (CM-CNF)—were fabricated into separators via vacuum filtration followed by sequential ethanol–acetone–pentane solvent exchange. All three CNF types underwent identical silane modification using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), while methyltrimethoxysilane-treated RE-CNF (M-RE-CNF) was included as an exploratory reference. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed successful silane modification, with Si concentrations of 3.44, 8.21, and 2.35 at.% on the surfaces of T-RE-CNF, T-EN-CNF, and T-CM-CNF, respectively, demonstrating that the extent of silylation depended on the CNF fabrication method. TEOS treatment also affected the dry-state porous architecture differently depending on the CNF type: the total pore volume remained largely unchanged for RE-CNF, decreased from 0.3674 to 0.2410 cm3·g-1 for EN-CNF, and markedly increased from 0.0299 to 0.1419 cm3·g-1 for CM-CNF. Although tensile strength declined after treatment for all samples, with the greatest decrease observed for EN-CNF, electrolyte uptake and retention displayed distinct trends that were governed by the initial CNF structure. In NMC622/Li half-cell evaluations, T-RE-CNF exhibited superior rate capability compared with untreated RE-CNF, delivering a discharge capacity of ~145 mAh·g-1 at a high rate of 10 C compared with 112 mAh·g-1 for untreated RE-CNF. These findings demonstrate that silane modification does not uniformly enhance the performance of cellulose-based separators; rather, its effectiveness is critically mediated by the chemical functionality and structural characteristics established during CNF production.

Keywords
Cellulose nanofiber
lithium-ion battery separator
silane modification
pore structure
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Information
  • Publisher :Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
  • Publisher(Ko) :한국펄프종이공학회
  • Journal Title :Journal of Korea TAPPI
  • Journal Title(Ko) :펄프종이기술
  • Volume : 58
  • No :4
  • Pages :110-125
  • Received Date : 2026-08-14
  • Revised Date : 2026-08-15
  • Accepted Date : 2026-08-16
  • DOI :https://doi.org/10.7584/JKTAPPI.2026.8.58.4.110
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