NREL/NASA Internal Short-Circuit Instigator in Lithium Ion Cells

Conference · Sun Oct 11 04:00:00 EDT 2015

OSTI ID:1337478

Keyser, Matthew; Long, Dirk; Pesaran, Ahmad; Darcy, Eric; Shoesmith, Mark; McCarthy, Ben

Lithium-ion cells provide the highest specific energy (>280 Wh/kg) and energy density (>600 Wh/L) rechargeable battery building block to date with the longest life. Electrode/electrolyte thermal instability and flammability of the electrolyte of Li-ion cells make them prone to catastrophic thermal runaway under some rare internal short circuit conditions. Despite extensive QC/QA, standardized industry safety testing, and over 18 years of manufacturing experience, major recalls have taken place and incidents still occur. Many safety incidents that take place in the field originate due to an internal short that was not detectable or predictable at the point of manufacture. The Internal Short-Circuit Instigator can be used to study types of separators, non-flammable electrolytes, electrolyte additives, fusible tabs, propagation studies, and gas generation within a cell.

• Research Organization: NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States))
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Vehicle Technologies Office (EE-3V)
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1337478
• Report Number(s): NREL/PR-5400-66958
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
Internal Short-Circuit Instigator
batteries
cells
internal short-circuit
lithium ion
thermal runaway