Guest_Jim_* Posted April 30, 2015 Posted April 30, 2015 Lithium-ion batteries are used in so many devices they practically surround us, and while most of the time this is not an issue, there are rare occasions when these batteries will explode. Obviously it is not good when a single battery explodes, but often one explosion can cause a chain reaction and neighboring batteries will explode as well. Researchers at University College London, Imperial College London, and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) have now performed the first analysis of the internal structure of a battery as it explodes, in real-time. The researchers studied two specific battery types, with one having an internal support and one not, and what occurs when thermal runaway happens. To do this they used one of the ESRF beamlines, which is capable of high speed 3D image capture. As the batteries were exposed to temperatures above 250 ºC, the researchers were able to watch the structures inside. The battery with the internal support apparently hit temperatures around 1000 ºC internally, because the copper support melted, and the heat spread out from there. In the other battery the tightly packed core collapsed, which would increase the risk of short circuits and damage to nearby objects. While this study only worked with two types of battery, it demonstrates the feasibility of this analysis method for other types. Now the researchers are going to study a larger sample of batteries and examine the microscopic changes involved with failure. Source: University College London Back to original news post Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts