Characterising thermal runaway within lithium-ion cells by inducing and monitoring internal short circuits

Finegan, Donal P.; Darcy, Eric; Keyser, Matthew; Tjaden, Bernhard; Heenan, Thomas M. M.; Jervis, Rhodri; Bailey, Josh J.; Malik, Romeo; Vo, Nghia T.; Magdysyuk, Oxana V.; Atwood, Robert; Drakopoulos, Michael; DiMichiel, Marco; Rack, Alexander; Hinds, Gareth; Brett, Dan J. L.; Shearing, Paul R.

doi:10.1039/C7EE00385D

Characterising thermal runaway within lithium-ion cells by inducing and monitoring internal short circuits

Journal Article · Wed Mar 29 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Energy & Environmental Science

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/C7EE00385D· OSTI ID:1364157

Finegan, Donal P. ^[1]; Darcy, Eric ^[2]; Keyser, Matthew ^[3]; Tjaden, Bernhard ^[1]; Heenan, Thomas M. M. ^[1]; Jervis, Rhodri ^[1]; Bailey, Josh J. ^[1]; Malik, Romeo ^[4]; Vo, Nghia T. ^[5]; Magdysyuk, Oxana V. ^[5]; Atwood, Robert ^[5]; Drakopoulos, Michael ^[5]; DiMichiel, Marco ^[6]; Rack, Alexander ^[6]; Hinds, Gareth ^[7]; Brett, Dan J. L. ^[1]; Shearing, Paul R. ^[1]

Univ. College London, London (United Kingdom)
NASA-Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX (United States)
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Univ. of Warwick, Coventry (United Kingdom)
Diamond Light Source, Didcot (United Kingdom)
ESRF The European Synchrotron, Grenoble (France)
National Physical Lab., Teddington (United Kingdom)

Lithium-ion batteries are being used in increasingly demanding applications where safety and reliability are of utmost importance. Thermal runaway presents the greatest safety hazard, and needs to be fully understood in order to progress towards safer cell and battery designs. Here, we demonstrate the application of an internal short circuiting device for controlled, on-demand, initiation of thermal runaway. Through its use, the location and timing of thermal runaway initiation is pre-determined, allowing analysis of the nucleation and propagation of failure within 18 650 cells through the use of high-speed X-ray imaging at 2000 frames per second. Furthermore, the cause of unfavourable occurrences such as sidewall rupture, cell bursting, and cell-to-cell propagation within modules is elucidated, and steps towards improved safety of 18 650 cells and batteries are discussed.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Vehicle Technologies Office (EE-3V)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1364157

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA--5400-68166

Journal Information:: Energy & Environmental Science, Journal Name: Energy & Environmental Science Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 10; ISSN EESNBY; ISSN 1754-5692

Publisher:: Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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