In situ construction of glass-fiber-directed zeolite microtube woven separator for ultra-high-capacity lithium-oxygen batteries

The major challenge in developing lithium-oxygen (Li-O2) batteries is the accumulation of insulated discharge products at the cathode, which would block the diffusion of oxygen and the transfer of elec-trons. Herein, inspired by self-assembling biomineral tissues, an ammonium bromide-modified zeolite microtube woven-fabric (NH4ZMT WF) separator is developed using a precursor-scaffold/ solid-phase-crystallization strategy, which greatly improves the discharge capacity of the Li-O2 batteries. By combining the capture and conversion steps, the NH4ZMT WF separator is capable of ex-tending the discharge reaction region to the separator. According to the Pearson acid-base concept, the hardness of ZMT WF sur-face-modified cations affects the formation mechanism of discharge products. The Li-O2 batteries with a NH4ZMT WF separator exhibit a capacity greater than 25,000 mAh g-1 and a prolonged cyclability of over 4,000 h. This encouraging performance offers broad prospects for practical Li-O2 batteries.