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Staged thermal runaway behaviours of three typical lithium-ion batteries for hazard prevention

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Abstract

Thermal runaway (TR) considerably restricts the applications of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and the development of renewable energy sources, thus causing safety issues and economic losses. In the current study, the staged TR characteristics of three LIBs are examined using a self-built experimental platform and cone calorimeter. The results indicate that the TR of the ternary lithium and lithium cobalt batteries successively underwent the following stages: smoke production, swelling, bursting and combustion. By contrast, the lithium iron phosphate battery experiences smoulder instead of combustion during TR process. The TR time of the ternary lithium, lithium cobalt oxide and lithium iron phosphate batteries are 728 s, 689 s and 849 s, and the critical temperatures are 260.02 °C, 240.84 °C and 290.88 °C, respectively. Moreover, the lithium cobalt oxide battery has the largest heat release of 0.027 MJ m-2, the ternary lithium battery presents the most mass loss rate of 0.75 g s-1, and the lithium iron phosphate battery produced the largest smoke, CO and CO2 during the TR process. These results reveal the safety and stability of three LIBs and can be beneficial for studies on the proactive process safety and potential hazard prevention of LIBs.

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Acknowledgements

The research was supported by De Montfort University through its distinguished Vice-Chancellor 2020 Programme and by the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) through the Batteries Early Career Researcher Award.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Safety Science and Engineering, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, No. 58, Yanta Mid. Rd., Xi’an, 710054, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Yang Xiao, Jia-Rong Zhao & Lan Yin

  2. Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Prevention and Control of Coal Fire, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, 710054, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Yang Xiao & Lan Yin

  3. School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, Liaoning, People’s Republic of China

    Bei Li

  4. Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development, School of Engineering and Sustainable Development, De Montfort University, Leicester, LE1 9BH, UK

    Yuan Tian

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Contributions

YX was involved in conceptualisation, resources and formal analysis. JRZ was responsible for data curation, methodology and writing—original draft. LY contributed to investigation and visualization. BL assisted with validation. YT helped with resources and writing—review and editing.

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Correspondence to Yang Xiao.

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Xiao, Y., Zhao, JR., Yin, L. et al. Staged thermal runaway behaviours of three typical lithium-ion batteries for hazard prevention. J Therm Anal Calorim (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-024-13080-0

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