Researcher Gabriel Veith from the DOE Oak Ridge National Laboratory recently developed a new technique to prevent lithium-ion batteries from catching fire — and surprisingly enough, the solution began with a children's science project.
Most lithium-ion batteries are composed of two electrodes separated by a thin plastic film. Unfortunately, per the U.S. Department of Energy article on TechXplore, if the plastic suffers any damage, it's possible that the two electrodes can come into contact, destabilizing the movement of electricity through the battery and causing the battery electrolyte to combust.
The solution came to Veith by accident. When toying with a kid-friendly slime mixture of cornstarch and water known as oobleck, he discovered the unique "shear thickening" property of the substance, by which any applied pressure brought the oobleck to solidify and to liquefy at the removal of said pressure.
The researchers, led by Veith, concocted an oobleck-like colloid to modify a traditional lithium-ion battery electrolyte, anticipating that in cases where the battery encounters damage, the sudden changes in pressure would prompt the solidification of an additional protective layer between the two electrodes. Their choice of oobleck alternative was comprised of silica particles mixed into the liquid battery electrolyte, resulting in a solution that clumps into solid form on impact, according to the U.S. DOE.
"Improving battery technology is critical to building a clean energy future for our country," explained the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Susan Hubbard, per the U.S. DOE. "This technology has implications for several industries, ultimately making battery systems safer, more efficient, and more stable."
Most notably, lithium-ion batteries have extensive applications in the electric vehicle industry, and naturally, even though EV fires are very rare, reducing flammability is essential in such a high-risk setting. Improvements to lithium-ion batteries and, by extension, to electric vehicles, can incentivize more individuals to make the switch from combustion-based engines, cutting down on their tailpipe carbon pollution and helping mitigate some of the effects of a warming planet, from weather abnormalities to resource shortages.
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The Oak Ridge National Laboratory has already licensed various battery technologies to the Safire Technology startup in recent years. We will hopefully see the implementation of Veith's latest research quite soon.
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