Mechanical behavior and failure mechanisms of Li-ion battery separators

Anisotropic mechanical properties were experimentally determined and compared for three types of commercially available Li-ion battery separators: Celgard 2325, Celgard PP2075 dry-processed polymer separators, and DreamWeaver Gold 40 non-woven separator. Significant amount of anisotropy of properties was determined, with the Young's modulus being different by up to a factor of 5 and ultimate strength being different by a factor of 10 between orthogonal directions within a polymer separator layer. Strain rate sensitivity was investigated by applying strain rates ranging from 1⋅10⁻⁴ s⁻¹ to 0.1 s⁻¹. Significant strengthening was observed and the strain rate strengthening coefficients were determined for both elastic modulus and yield stress in case of polymer separators. Digital image correlation technique was used to measure and map the strains over the specimen's gage section. Significant strain concentration in bands running perpendicular to the tensile axis was observed in polymer separator samples oriented in transverse direction. Such localized necking allows for extremely high strains close to 300% to develop in the material. The failure mode was remarkably different for all three types of separators which adds additional variable in safe design of Li-ion batteries for prevention of internal short circuits.