LG Chem has said it has developed a very heat-resistant plastic that can significantly delay thermal acceleration in lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles (EVs).
South Korean father of the world’s second largest battery maker for EV, LG Energy Solution (LGES), said the new material has the longest flame retardant duration in the world.
LG Chem said internal tests have shown that the material “prevents the spread of flames for more than 400 seconds at temperatures above 1,000 degrees, which is 45 times longer than conventional flame retardant plastics”, which will give more time to safely evacuate car passengers in the event of an accident . battery fire. It is also said that the material has excellent dimensional stability while retaining its shape despite extreme temperature fluctuations.
LG Chem has stated that thermal overclocking is the main cause of fire in the batteries of electric vehicles, which occurs when battery cells suffer from loads from various sources, causing overvoltages and short circuits through discharge. Fires begin as soon as the internal temperature of the cell rises above a certain level.
Lithium-ion batteries are also highly reactive to water, which means that fires are difficult to put out with water. Last year, it was found that several EV fires in the U.S. that resulted in serious injuries were caused by faulty LGES batteries.
LG Chem has stated that its newly developed special flame retardant material is a high-performance engineering plastic consisting of various groups of materials such as polyphenylene oxide (PPO), polyamide (PA) and polybutylene terephthalate (PBT).
