Currently, advancements in separator technology for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have been developed due to their widespread use and key role in ion transportation. Nevertheless, there is still a need for ensuring the operation safety, service life, and user's experience of the batteries. In order to avoid the safety issues caused by the elevating temperature during working process, it is essential to endow separators with thermal shutdown function, which can timely cut off the current and prevent the electrodes from contacting. At the same time, the demand for recycling and sustainability of separators are also growing. Therefore, functional separators with irreversible or reversible thermal shutdown ability came out for future utility and manufacture. In this review, we aim to provide a comprehensive analysis of the technologies employed to enhance the safety of LIBs via highlighting the recent achievements in separators with irreversible thermal protection fabricated by different methods and mechanisms. Moreover, we summarize the intelligent materials that are able to take actions and self-adapt in reversibly thermal protection separators. Current research directions and challenges associated with the use of these LIBs separators and future perspectives in battery thermal protection are also provided. We hope such a review could provide inspiration for the separator researches dedicated on the cyclic utilization, high safety and high performance for future battery developments.

目前，由于锂离子电池 (LIB) 的广泛使用和在离子传输中的关键作用，其隔膜技术得到了发展。尽管如此，仍然需要确保电池的操作安全性、使用寿命和用户体验。为了避免工作过程中温度升高带来的安全问题，必须赋予隔膜热关断功能，可以及时切断电流，防止电极接触。与此同时，对分离器回收和可持续性的需求也在不断增长。因此，具有不可逆或可逆热关断能力的功能性分离器应运而生，以备将来使用和制造。在这次审查中，我们的目标是通过强调通过不同方法和机制制造的具有不可逆热保护的隔板的最新成就，对用于提高 LIB 安全性的技术进行全面分析。此外，我们总结了可逆热保护分离器中能够采取行动和自适应的智能材料。还提供了与使用这些 LIBs 隔膜相关的当前研究方向和挑战以及电池热保护的未来前景。我们希望这样的评论可以为致力于循环利用、高安全性和高性能的隔膜研究提供灵感，以促进未来电池的发展。