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posted by hubie on Monday October 07, @10:49AM   Printer-friendly
from the PUT-IT-OUT dept.

Recently published in Nature, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-52766-9 LG Chem has developed a thin membrane said to greatly reduce the chance of fire in Li-Ion batteries. From the abstract,

Integrating safety features to cut off excessive current during accidental internal short circuits in Li-ion batteries (LIBs) can reduce the risk of thermal runaway. However, making this concept practical requires overcoming challenges in both material development and scalable manufacturing. Here, we demonstrate the roll-to-roll production of a safety reinforced layer (SRL) on current collectors at a rate of 5 km per day. The SRL, made of molecularly engineered polythiophene (PTh) and carbon additives, interrupts current flow during voltage drops or overheating without adversely affecting battery performance. Impact testing on 3.4-Ah pouch cells shows that the SRL reduces battery explosions from 63% to 10%.

The full paper is available, no paywall.

Also covered in more popular language in Motor Trend, https://www.motortrend.com/news/lg-chem-runaway-ev-battery-fire-suppresion-technology/

... The only catch, now, is that testing has only truly begun. Scaling up to larger capacity battery packs—ones used in EVs, as highlighted by the study—are to begin in 2025. It seems that the CTO of LG Chem, Lee Jong-gu, believes this safety feature will come sooner rather than later: "This is a tangible research achievement that can be applied to mass production in a short period of time. We will enhance safety technology to ensure customers can use electric vehicles with confidence and contribute to strengthening our competitiveness in the battery market." We're sure that many firefighters and motorsports events are probably begging LG Chem to make this technology a top priority.


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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07, @05:27PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 07, @05:27PM (#1376123)

    > I'll believe it when reputable battery manufacturers apply such labels to their products.

    If you believe them, LG is such a company, see: https://www.lgessbattery.com/ [lgessbattery.com]

    LG Energy Solution is a profitable company, expected to reach USD 27B revenue in 2024. Only well established, financially stable companies are capable of fully supporting 10 year product warranties.
    Global cell manufacturing already in place, with company total capacities expected to reach 160GWh in 2022. Increased production lines are fully operational.

    My guess is they will offer it on their own batteries first--as an added value but at minimal extra cost. The fire suppressing layer is very thin plastic, can't cost much because there is so little of it.

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