To Prevent Thermal Runaway
LG Chem announced on April 25 that it has developed a flame-retardant engineering plastic material designed to delay thermal runaway in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles (EVs).
Thermal runaway, the main cause of EV battery fires, refers to a phenomenon in which the lithium-ion cell enters an uncontrollable, self-heating state. When the internal temperature of a battery rises above a certain level, a fire occurs. Lithium-ion batteries are highly reactive with water, and so such fires are difficult to extinguish with water.
The new material developed by LG Chem is a high-functional engineering plastic material containing polyphenylene oxide (PPO), polyamide (PA) and polybutylene terephthalate (PBT).
The material can block heat for a longer period of time compared to general flame-retardant plastics because of its excellent heat resistance, LG Chem explained. Tests showed that it can prevent the spread of a flame caused by thermal runaway for more than 400 seconds at the temperature of 1,000 degrees Celsius, about 45 times longer compared with other fire-retardant plastics, LG Chem said.
The company is filing for a patent in major markets such as the United States and Europe. It plans to expand the application of the material not only to automobiles but also to various industrial fields.