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LG Chem develops material capable of suppressing thermal runaway in batteries

28 points by westurner 2y ago

westurner 2y ago
> In its announcement, LG Chem has reported that in both battery impact and penetration tests, the batteries equipped with the thermal runaway suppression material either did not catch fire at all or extinguished the flames shortly after they appeared, preventing a full-blown thermal runaway event.
- jessriedel 2y ago
  > The material comes in the form of a thin layer, just 1 micrometer (1μm) thick – about one hundredth the thickness of human hair – positioned between the cathode layer and the current collector (an aluminum foil that acts as the electron pathway). When the battery’s temperature rises beyond the normal range, between 90°C and 130°C, the material reacts to the heat, altering its molecular structure and effectively suppressing the flow of current, LG Chem said. > The material is decribed as highly responsive to temperature, with its electrical resistance increasing by 5,000 ohms (Ω) for every 1°C rise in temperature. The material’s maximum resistance is over 1,000 times higher than at normal temperatures, and it also features reversibility, meaning the resistance decreases and returns to its original state, allowing the current to flow normally again once the temperature drops. To the best of my searching, a typical lithium ion battery has roughly 20-30 cathode-and-current-conductor layers. So naively this would add less than 50 microns to the battery thickness. Also, the open-access article is here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-52766-9 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-52766-9
  - HPsquared 2y ago
    Would this cause energy losses (inefficiency)?
    - jessriedel 2y ago
      I dunno. I skimmed the intro of the journal article and they say they achieve > high conductivity of SRL under standard battery operation but I don’t know if the losses are truly negligible. I think we need someone who knows more about batteries.
    - techjamie 2y ago
      This, and possibly more importantly: how well does it retain effectiveness under wear/adverse circumstances? It seems really promising, but if we up the cost of battery production and hence make them more expensive, then it would be nice to know it will still work after extended use.
  - westurner 2y ago
    ScholarlyArticle: "Thermal runaway prevention through scalable fabrication of safety reinforced layer in practical Li-ion batteries" (2024) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-52766-9 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-52766-9
- deleted 2y ago
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westurner 2y ago
Does this prevent lithium - water reaction? Is that fire, or? When current gen EV batteries catch fire in fresh and saltwater flood waters, is that due to thermal runaway? (Twisted SWCNT carbon nanotubes don't have these risks at all FWIU)
- cjbenedikt 2y ago
  Twisted SWCNT is still mostly a concept. Doesn't even have proof of concept in the lab. According to people involved in it, it may take a couple of decades to go to market. But I agree, it would be great to have " wind up" cars, for example.
  - westurner 2y ago
    Business idea: form dense shipping containers of addressed arrays of [twisted SWCNT, rhombohedral trilayer graphene, or double-gated graphene,]? They would need: anodes, industry standard commercial and residential solar connectors, water-safe EV charge connectors, and/or "Mega pack" connectors to jump charge semi-trucks from a container on a flatbed or a sprinter van. Branded, stackable Intermodal shipping containers with charge controllers It's probably already possible to thermoform and ground biocomposite shipping containers, with ocean recovery loops? Bast fiber anodes for super capacitors are inexpensive, and there may be something to learn from their naturally branching shape. https://www.google.com/search?q=bast%20fiber%20supercapacitor%20anodes https://www.google.com/search?q=bast%20fiber%20supercapacito... "Scientists grow carbon nanotube forest much longer than any other" (2020) https://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news2/newsid=56546.php https://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news2/newsid=56546.p... "Growing ultra-long carbon nanotubes" https://youtube.com/watch?v=VyULskYuGvg https://youtube.com/watch?v=VyULskYuGvg "Ultra-long carbon nanotube forest via in situ supplements of iron and aluminum vapor sources" (2020) https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.carbon.2020.10.066 https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.carbon.2020.10.066 .. https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=1zqRM3UAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=1zqRM3UAAAAJ... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41159447 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41159447 : "Giant nanomechanical energy storage capacity in twisted single-walled carbon nanotube ropes" (2024) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-024-01645-x https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-024-01645-x : > 583 Wh/kg
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carowl 2y ago
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28 points by westurner 2y ago

> In its announcement, LG Chem has reported that in both battery impact and penetration tests, the batteries equipped with the thermal runaway suppression material either did not catch fire at all or extinguished the flames shortly after they appeared, preventing a full-blown thermal runaway event.

jessriedel 2y ago
> The material comes in the form of a thin layer, just 1 micrometer (1μm) thick – about one hundredth the thickness of human hair – positioned between the cathode layer and the current collector (an aluminum foil that acts as the electron pathway). When the battery’s temperature rises beyond the normal range, between 90°C and 130°C, the material reacts to the heat, altering its molecular structure and effectively suppressing the flow of current, LG Chem said. > The material is decribed as highly responsive to temperature, with its electrical resistance increasing by 5,000 ohms (Ω) for every 1°C rise in temperature. The material’s maximum resistance is over 1,000 times higher than at normal temperatures, and it also features reversibility, meaning the resistance decreases and returns to its original state, allowing the current to flow normally again once the temperature drops. To the best of my searching, a typical lithium ion battery has roughly 20-30 cathode-and-current-conductor layers. So naively this would add less than 50 microns to the battery thickness. Also, the open-access article is here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-52766-9 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-52766-9
- HPsquared 2y ago
  Would this cause energy losses (inefficiency)?
  - jessriedel 2y ago
    I dunno. I skimmed the intro of the journal article and they say they achieve > high conductivity of SRL under standard battery operation but I don’t know if the losses are truly negligible. I think we need someone who knows more about batteries.
  - techjamie 2y ago
    This, and possibly more importantly: how well does it retain effectiveness under wear/adverse circumstances? It seems really promising, but if we up the cost of battery production and hence make them more expensive, then it would be nice to know it will still work after extended use.
- westurner 2y ago
  ScholarlyArticle: "Thermal runaway prevention through scalable fabrication of safety reinforced layer in practical Li-ion batteries" (2024) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-52766-9 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-52766-9
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

westurner 2y ago

Does this prevent lithium - water reaction? Is that fire, or? When current gen EV batteries catch fire in fresh and saltwater flood waters, is that due to thermal runaway? (Twisted SWCNT carbon nanotubes don't have these risks at all FWIU)

cjbenedikt 2y ago
Twisted SWCNT is still mostly a concept. Doesn't even have proof of concept in the lab. According to people involved in it, it may take a couple of decades to go to market. But I agree, it would be great to have " wind up" cars, for example.
- westurner 2y ago
  Business idea: form dense shipping containers of addressed arrays of [twisted SWCNT, rhombohedral trilayer graphene, or double-gated graphene,]? They would need: anodes, industry standard commercial and residential solar connectors, water-safe EV charge connectors, and/or "Mega pack" connectors to jump charge semi-trucks from a container on a flatbed or a sprinter van. Branded, stackable Intermodal shipping containers with charge controllers It's probably already possible to thermoform and ground biocomposite shipping containers, with ocean recovery loops? Bast fiber anodes for super capacitors are inexpensive, and there may be something to learn from their naturally branching shape. https://www.google.com/search?q=bast%20fiber%20supercapacitor%20anodes https://www.google.com/search?q=bast%20fiber%20supercapacito... "Scientists grow carbon nanotube forest much longer than any other" (2020) https://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news2/newsid=56546.php https://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news2/newsid=56546.p... "Growing ultra-long carbon nanotubes" https://youtube.com/watch?v=VyULskYuGvg https://youtube.com/watch?v=VyULskYuGvg "Ultra-long carbon nanotube forest via in situ supplements of iron and aluminum vapor sources" (2020) https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.carbon.2020.10.066 https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.carbon.2020.10.066 .. https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=1zqRM3UAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=1zqRM3UAAAAJ... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41159447 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41159447 : "Giant nanomechanical energy storage capacity in twisted single-walled carbon nanotube ropes" (2024) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-024-01645-x https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-024-01645-x : > 583 Wh/kg

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carowl 2y ago

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