The success of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and their unique advantages for electrochemical energy storage have sped up research in this field. A critical component of LIBs is the separator. Here, Bombyx mori silk cocoon separators have been treated with oxygen (O₂) and nitrogen (N₂) plasmas at different exposure times. The goal was to improve the electrochemical characteristics of these natural separators, without jeopardizing the major attributes of silk fibers. Major physical and chemical modifications have been identified at the submicrometer scale on the application of the plasmas: (1) Etching of the silk nanofibrils and concomitant increase of roughness (more effective with O₂ plasma), corresponding to the destruction of the 5th structural hierarchy level of the silk fibers. (2) Creation of oxygen-containing functional groups carrying negative charges at the surface, causing a superhydrophobic-to-superhydrophilic transition, and favoring Li⁺ transport. The optimized cocoon separator exposed to O₂ plasma for 30 s exhibited high electrolyte uptake (289%), high ionic conductivity (2.33 mS/cm at 25 °C), and low overall resistance. A cathodic half-cell of carbon-coated lithium iron phosphate incorporating this separator sample soaked in the ethylene carbonate/dimethyl carbonate/lithium hexafluorophosphate electrolyte demonstrated a performance boost with respect to the battery, including a raw cocoon separator: an outstanding increase (ca. 270%) of the discharge capacity (from 26.1 to 96.7 mAh/g at 5C-rate) and an impressive increase (291%) of the capacity retention (from 22.3% to 87.2%, from C/5 to 5C). This work proves that the O₂ plasma exposure is a valid, simple, fast, clean, and safe top-down methodology to improve the properties of B. mori cocoon separators. The features of these plasma-treated separators, which surpass those of commercial separators, help in upgrading the performance of LIBs. This plasma-enhanced natural biomaterial separator technological platform pushes LIBs to the next performance-level, while guaranteeing the eco-friendly, sustainability, and safety labels.

锂离子电池（LIB）的成功及其在电化学能量存储方面的独特优势，加速了该领域的研究。LIB的关键组件是分隔符。在这里，已经用氧气（O ₂）和氮气（N ₂）等离子在不同的暴露时间处理了Bombyx mori蚕茧分离器。目的是改善这些天然隔板的电化学特性，而又不损害丝纤维的主要特性。在等离子体的应用中，已确定了亚微米级的主要物理和化学修饰：（1）蚀刻丝纳米原纤维并随之增加粗糙度（使用O ₂更有效等离子），对应于蚕丝纤维的第5级结构破坏水平。（2）产生在表面带有负电荷的含氧官能团，引起超疏水性向超亲水性的转变，并有利于Li ^+的运输。优化的茧分离器暴露于O ₂30秒钟的等离子体显示出高的电解质吸收（289％），高的离子电导率（在25°C时为2.33 mS / cm）和较低的总电阻。将该隔板样品浸泡在碳酸亚乙酯/碳酸二甲酯/六氟磷酸锂电解质中的碳包覆磷酸锂铁阴极半电池相对于包括生茧隔板的电池而言，性能得到了提升：显着提高（约放电容量的270％（在5C速率下从26.1到96.7 mAh / g）和容量保持率的显着提高（291％）（从C / 5到5C从22.3％到87.2％）。这项工作证明O ₂等离子体暴露是一种有效，简单，快速，清洁和安全的自上而下的方法，可以改善桑蚕的特性。茧分离器。这些经过等离子体处理的分离器的功能（超过了商业分离器的功能）有助于提高LIB的性能。这种等离子体增强的天然生物材料分离器技术平台将LIB提升到了新的性能水平，同时保证了环保，可持续性和安全性标签。