1300°C Battery Insulation Material Enhances EV Safety

Jakarta (ANTARA) - A team of researchers from Nanjing Tech University in China is reportedly developing a lithium battery insulation material capable of withstanding temperatures up to 1,300 degrees Celsius as an effort to enhance the safety of electric vehicles (EVs). This innovation comes amid China’s industry push to strengthen battery safety aspects, particularly in anticipating the risks of thermal runaway or extreme temperature surges in battery cells. A report cited by Carnewschina from Science and Technology Daily on Friday (17/4) local time mentions the safety material in the form of a silica aerogel-based insulating sheet designed to slow heat transfer between lithium-ion battery cells. In thermal runaway conditions, the cell temperature can rise dramatically within seconds and spread to other cells, potentially triggering fires. In testing, a sheet with a thickness of 2.3 millimetres exposed to 1,000 degrees Celsius for five minutes was able to keep the opposite side below 100 degrees Celsius. Researchers state that previous aerogel technology generally could only withstand temperatures around 300 degrees Celsius, while battery cell combustion temperatures can reach 650 to 1,000 degrees Celsius. With this improvement, the material’s temperature tolerance has been increased by up to twice. The aerogel structure itself consists of a nanoporous network that is about 99 percent filled with air, thus able to limit heat conduction. The research team enhanced the material’s durability by strengthening its structure and adjusting catalyst conditions in the synthesis process. Additionally, the material has been engineered to have an elastic compression rate of over 90 percent to address aerogel’s brittle nature. This is important because electric vehicle batteries undergo repeated expansion and contraction during use. From a production perspective, the researchers optimised the supercritical carbon dioxide drying process and improved efficiency through solvent recovery. The ethanol reuse rate is reported to exceed 99.5 percent, thereby reducing raw material costs by more than half. This aerogel material has been used in battery systems by several companies such as CATL, BYD, Sungrow, and Xiaomi. In addition to electric vehicles, the material is also applied in the aerospace sector and high-temperature industries.