Khalifa, M.Janakiraman, S.Ghosh, S.Adyam, A.Anandhan, S.2026-02-052019Polymer Composites, 2019, 40, 6, pp. 2320-23342728397https://doi.org/10.1002/pc.25043https://idr.nitk.ac.in/handle/123456789/24548Gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) based on electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)/halloysite nanotube (HNT) nanocomposite non-wovens was synthesized and its suitability as a separator in lithium-ion battery (LIB) was explored. In this study, HNT played a key role in reducing the average diameter of the electrospun fibers and uplifted the porosity of the non-wovens thereby improving their electrolyte uptake. Due to a reduction in crystallinity and increased % porosity of the PVDF/HNT non-wovens, the ionic conductivity (1.77 mScm?1) and ionic transport across the separator were improved. Moreover, this GPE separator exhibited high tensile and puncture strength with negligible thermal shrinkage and a higher melting temperature compared with a commercially available separator, which is vital from the safety perspective. The cycling performance of Li/GPE/LiCoO<inf>2</inf> cell was evaluated and it exhibited a high capacity of 138.01 mAhg?1 with 97% coulombic efficiency for the initial cycle. The cell was stable and retained its high performance with little loss in capacity even after repeated charge–discharge cycles. Such a combination of high ionic conductivity, tensile strength with low thermal shrinkage is seen to be very rare in polymer-based separators. It is noteworthy that this novel GPE outperformed the commercial separator also in the cycle performance. POLYM. COMPOS., 40:2320–2334, 2019. © 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers. © 2018 Society of Plastics EngineersElectrospinningFluorine compoundsIonic conductivityIonic strengthLithium-ion batteriesNanocompositesPlastic productsPorositySeparatorsShrinkageTensile strengthYarnCoulombic efficiencyCycle performanceCycling performanceElectrospun fibersGel polymer electrolytesPoly (vinylidene fluoride)(PVDF)Puncture strengthThermal shrinkagePolyelectrolytes