Fireproof Lithium-Ion Batteries That Harden When Hit

To make lithium-ion batteries safer, researchers have come up with a novel solution: a liquid electrolyte that becomes solid on impact. The electrolyte could keep batteries from heating up and bursting into flames when they are in a car crash or take a hard fall. And it could be cost-effectively and easily employed in today’s battery production lines.

Lithium-ion battery cells contain two electrodes separated by a thin plastic sheet and submerged in a liquid electrolyte. If the plastic separator breaks, the electrodes can “touch” each other, shorting the battery and heating it up, which could cause the volatile liquid electrolyte to ignite.

Researchers instead made an electrolyte that is normally a liquid but becomes solid when subjected to strain. So if a battery is crushed or penetrated, the electrolyte would harden, keeping the electrodes from coming in contact.

 

Read more at IEEE Spectrum

Image Credit: Gabriel Veith

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