LG Chem’s Innovation Could Revolutionize Battery Safety
LG Chem, a global leader in advanced materials, announced today a significant breakthrough in battery safety technology. The company’s research and development team has successfully developed a new material that can effectively suppress thermal runaway, a critical safety concern in lithium-ion batteries.
The innovative material, dubbed the Safety Reinforced Layer (SRL), is designed to prevent battery fires by responding to rising temperatures. As the battery heats up, the SRL’s electrical resistance increases, acting as a safety fuse and blocking the flow of electricity. This prevents the cascading chain reaction that often leads to thermal runaway and subsequent fires.
New Battery Safety Material Proven Effective
LG Chem collaborated with Professor Lee Minah’s team at POSTECH’s Department of Battery Science to analyze the new material’s properties and performance. Additionally, LG Energy Solution conducted rigorous safety tests to verify the SRL’s effectiveness in real-world conditions.
The research findings were published in the September edition of Nature Communications, a prestigious scientific journal, highlighting the significance of this breakthrough.The material is highly responsive to temperature changes, increasing its electrical resistance by a staggering 5,000 ohms for every 1°C rise.
LG Chem’s Revolutionary Fireproof Battery Material
This rapid response ensures that the material can effectively block the flow of electricity in the early stages of overheating, preventing the catastrophic chain reaction that leads to thermal runaway.
Unlike other safety measures, the material’s resistance is reversible. Once the temperature drops, the material’s resistance returns to its original state, allowing normal operation to resume. This ensures that the battery’s performance is not compromised in the absence of a thermal event.
Thermal runaway, a leading cause of electric vehicle battery fires, occurs when the battery’s internal components short circuit, generating excessive heat. This can quickly escalate into a fire, posing a serious safety risk. LG Chem’s new material is designed to prevent this by effectively interrupting the reaction path at the earliest signs of overheating.