High‐wettability composite separator embedded with in‐situ grown TiO ₂ nanoparticles for advanced sodium‐ion batteries

The separator, as an important inner part of the sodium‐ion battery (SIB), has a significant impact on the electrochemical performance and security of the battery. However, conventional polyolefin separators are inapplicable for SIBs due to their poor wettability to liquid electrolytes and unsatisfactory heat resistance. To address these problems, a novel polyethylene (PE)‐ hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC)‐TiO 2 composite separator modified on the PE matrix is proposed and successfully prepared by a multistep synthesis procedure of HEC coating and TiO 2 in situ self‐growth, while almost maintaining the initial separator thickness. Compared with conventional PE separators, this composite separator possesses remarkable wettability which benefits from the introduction of a polar HEC‐TiO 2 ‐incorporated coating. Besides, thanks to a significant improvement in wettability, the separator presents high electrolyte uptake of up to 186.5% and an extraordinary ionic conductivity of 0.342 mS cm −1 . As expected, a Na|Na 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 battery with the PE‐HEC‐TiO 2 separator exhibits a reversible capacity of 99.0 mAh g −1 and a capacity retention of 94.8% after 1000 cycles at 5 C with a steady Coulombic efficiency of nearly 100%. These brilliant performances convincingly make it a promising separator for advanced SIBs with high reversibility, high capacity, and long life.