Plasma-modified polypropylene membranes as separators in high-power alkaline batteries

Separators play an important part in the operation of nickel–cadmium high-power rechargeable batteries. To avoid the presence of wetting agents or undesirable substances in the electrode system, grafted polymer was used as a separator. c acid was grafted onto 25 μm polypropylene (PP) microporous films by plasma-induced graft polymerization. Presence of poly(acrylic acid) on the PP surface was confirmed by XPS, SEM, FTIR-ATR methods. The physicochemical properties of the modified polymer films as a function of grafting parameters were investigated. The performance of nickel–cadmium cells with acrylic acid grafted membranes as separator is also presented.