Title: Mitigating thermal runaway of lithium-ion battery through electrolyte displacement

Abstract

Alkanes are investigated as thermal-runaway retardants (TRR) for lithium-ion battery (LIB). TRR is a chemical that can rapidly terminate exothermic reactions in LIB. Under normal working conditions, TRR is sealed in separate packages in the LIB cell, and upon mechanical abuse, it is released to suppress heat generation. The alkanes under investigation include octane, pentadecane, and icosane, among which pentadecane has the highest thermal-runaway mitigation (TRM) efficiency. In nail penetration test on coin cells, ∼4 wt. % pentadecane reduced the maximum temperature by ∼60%; in impact test on pouch cells, ∼5 wt. % pentadecane reduced the maximum temperature by ∼90%. The high TRM efficiency of pentadecane is attributed to its high wettability to separator and its immiscibility with electrolyte. By forming a physical barrier between the cathode and anode, pentadecane interrupts lithium ion (Li+) transport and increases the charge transfer resistance by nearly two orders of magnitude. The diffusion rate of pentadecane in the electrode layer stack was measured to be ∼580 μm/s.

Authors:

Shi, Yang; Noelle, Daniel J.; Wang, Meng; Le, Anh V.; Yoon, Hyojung; Zhang, Minghao; Meng, Ying Shirley; Fan, Jiang; Wu, Dengguo; Qiao, Yu

Publication Date:

Mon Feb 06 00:00:00 EST 2017

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)

OSTI Identifier:

1985531

Grant/Contract Number:  

AR0000396

Resource Type:

Publisher's Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Applied Physics Letters

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Volume: 110 Journal Issue: 6; Journal ID: ISSN 0003-6951

Publisher:

American Institute of Physics

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English