Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
A ceramic membrane of porous, sintered aluminum nitride (AIN) is under consideration for use as a separator in a Lithium-Metal Sulfide battery due to the corrosion resistance and thermal stability of AlN. The pore structure and electrolytic permeability of the membrane must be appropriate if AlN is to be used. Commercialization of these membranes can occur only after repeatability in the processing conditions can be assured. In this study, extensive permeability and porosity testing was performed on membranes prepared under various processing conditions. Attempts to correlate processing conditions with permeability were made in order to determine the optimum method for fabrication of the membranes. It was determined that membranes produced with a lower molecular weight binder will have a higher permeability, higher porosity, and a larger pore structure than membranes produced with a higher molecular weight binder.