Research from a university in the United Kingdom may have found a way to corral battery thermal runaway concerns in lithium-ion batteries.
The team from Swansea, with help from Chinese experts, has developed graphene foil current collectors that carry almost 10 times the conductivity of the standard copper and aluminum types, all per a university news release on the work.
The findings provide a blueprint to mass-produce the high-quality collectors, shown to improve battery safety by preventing the dreaded runaways. Explained further at Science Direct, these thermal runaways happen when too much heat in the power pack leads to failure. Worst-case scenarios include fires or explosions, all per the lab summary.
While these disasters often make headlines, especially involving electric vehicles, they aren't common. In fact, gas cars are far more likely to combust, according to a report from The Boston Globe. It says the combustion rate nationwide for EVs was 25 for every 100,000 sold, compared to 1,529 for every 100,000 gas-guzzlers sold, citing 2022 data from the National Transportation Safety Board.
Better chemistry inside batteries can reduce that number even more.
"This is a significant step forward for battery technology," Swansea's Rui Tan, a study lead author, said in the lab report.
The graphene works by forming a better protective barrier, preventing the formation of flammable gasses and other factors that could lead to disaster.
To prove the science, the team created a 656-foot sheet of graphene foil that was 17 micrometers thick. For reference, the average human hair is about 70 micrometers, per the Environmental Protection Agency. They then bent the tarp-like creation 100,000 times. Fascinatingly, it was still highly conductive afterward, all per the lab summary.
"This not only improves battery safety by efficiently managing heat but also enhances energy density and longevity," Tan said.
Those are all important metrics motorists consider when buying a new ride. The worldwide EV market remains strong, as more than 3 million EVs were sold during the first quarter of 2024, a 25% increase from the prior year, according to the International Energy Agency.
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What's more, robust tax breaks stateside of up to $7,500 for qualified models are easing the switch for many customers.
Going with an EV can have multiple benefits, including saving up to $1,500 a year on gas and maintenance costs. Parking a gas-burner also reduces the amount of planet-warming exhaust, a government-cited health detriment, from being spewed.
The Department of Energy notes that EVs prevent thousands of pounds of heat-trapping fumes compared to gas cars, even in states where fossil fuels produce most of the electricity to charge them.
For its part, graphene isn't without hurdles. Data collector Statista lists China as the far-and-away leader in graphite production, which is used to make graphene. And the foreign market for the material can be troublesome, as evidenced by China's 2023 graphite trade rules.
At Swansea, the team is working to make graphene foils even thinner while improving performance. The goal is to expand its application to other battery types.
"Our dense, aligned graphene structure provides a robust barrier against the formation of flammable gasses and prevents oxygen from permeating the battery cells, which is crucial for avoiding catastrophic failures," Shenzhen University's Jinlong Yang, a study lead author from China, said in the summary.
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