Photo: Jian-Cheng Lai/Stanford University
One of the most dreadful events as an EV owner is to have your car’s battery catch fire. Although extremely rare, these events are a concern because Li-Ion battery electrolytes are flammable. Thankfully, researchers at Stanford University have invented a non-flammable “sauce” to prevent battery fires.
As electric vehicles finally saw wide adoption, battery research is in overdrive to improve current chemistries and find new ones. And by improving, we mean every aspect of batteries, starting with energy density, the number of cycles they can endure, the charging speed, and many others. In the latter category, and somehow overlooked, is the quest to make EV batteries safer. It’s relatively easy to make Li-ion batteries hold more power, but it would be in vain if the whole car ended up in flames due to a thermal runaway.
That’s because Li-ion batteries are very sensitive to high temperatures, and overheating will cause a chain reaction that is very hard to stop. The fact that the electrolytes used in current Li-Ion batteries are highly flammable doesn’t help either. That’s why electric vehicles are extremely difficult to extinguish using conventional means, and extreme measures like submerging them in a water pool are preferred.
To prevent battery fires from happening, a group of researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have come up with a clever solution. This involves a modified electrolyte, which helps Li-Ion batteries work normally at high temperatures without starting a fire. The best part is that this electrolyte can be used with existing batteries and production lines.
The team added a lithium salt called LiFSI to the normal polymer-based electrolyte to make it less flammable. This way, 63% of the electrolyte weight was salt, compared to less than 50% in commercial batteries. Although the electrolyte still contains flammable solvent molecules, it proved non-flammable at high temperatures up to 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius) during tests in a lithium-ion battery. Most importantly, this electrolyte still offers performance on par with batteries containing conventional electrolytes.
The new electrolyte, dubbed “Solvent-Anchored non-Flammable Electrolyte” (SAFE), can help improve energy density and use space more efficiently. Because the carmakers don’t have to worry about heat, they can pack the cells more closely and save on cooling systems. Hopefully, this revolutionary electrolyte will enter production soon and make electric vehicles safer.
That’s because Li-ion batteries are very sensitive to high temperatures, and overheating will cause a chain reaction that is very hard to stop. The fact that the electrolytes used in current Li-Ion batteries are highly flammable doesn’t help either. That’s why electric vehicles are extremely difficult to extinguish using conventional means, and extreme measures like submerging them in a water pool are preferred.
To prevent battery fires from happening, a group of researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have come up with a clever solution. This involves a modified electrolyte, which helps Li-Ion batteries work normally at high temperatures without starting a fire. The best part is that this electrolyte can be used with existing batteries and production lines.
The team added a lithium salt called LiFSI to the normal polymer-based electrolyte to make it less flammable. This way, 63% of the electrolyte weight was salt, compared to less than 50% in commercial batteries. Although the electrolyte still contains flammable solvent molecules, it proved non-flammable at high temperatures up to 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius) during tests in a lithium-ion battery. Most importantly, this electrolyte still offers performance on par with batteries containing conventional electrolytes.
The new electrolyte, dubbed “Solvent-Anchored non-Flammable Electrolyte” (SAFE), can help improve energy density and use space more efficiently. Because the carmakers don’t have to worry about heat, they can pack the cells more closely and save on cooling systems. Hopefully, this revolutionary electrolyte will enter production soon and make electric vehicles safer.
Google News