How to make the battery safer? Industry: gradual improvement is more reliable than subversion

According to the foreign media The Verge, batteries sometimes explode. Those explosion videos are scary, but scientists and startups have been working hard to build safer batteries. They are improving the battery design and testing new materials, hoping to solve the safety problem once and for all. But every method seems to have a trap, and the most practical solution at present may be the most boring.

There are three strategies to improve battery: avoid using flammable liquid as solid battery; Make the battery module fireproof; Modify the existing functional characteristics of the battery slightly. At least as far as batteries are concerned, this change may come slowly.

For the problem of battery fire, a widely hyped solution is solid batteries. The idea is simple: use solid materials as electrolytes instead of flammable liquid electrolytes; Solid batteries are unlikely to catch fire. However, it is more difficult for ions to move in solid than in liquid, which means that solid batteries are difficult to design, expensive, and may have performance problems.

There are three main methods of making solid batteries. Michael Zimmerman, a material scientist at Tufts University and founder of Ionic materials, a solid battery company, explained that you can use ceramics, glass or polymers to make electrolytes.

Ceramics and glass are brittle. Once you apply pressure, they are easy to crack. In addition, they are difficult to produce in large quantities and sometimes emit toxic gases in the manufacturing process. In terms of polymers, some can conduct ions, but usually only work at extremely high temperatures. Zimmerman's team developed a polymer that conducts ions at room temperature, but is also a flame retardant.

At present, Ionic materials is cooperating with battery manufacturers. Zimmerman hopes to make such batteries in the next two to three years.

Another strategy for finding safer batteries is to make the electrolyte itself fireproof, even though it is still liquid. Surya Moganty is the Chief Technology Officer of NOHMs Technologies. They are developing electrolytes using "ionic solids", which are similar to salts but are liquids at room temperature.

Putting this material in the electrolyte will make them flame retardant, but the battery life will also be problematic. NOHMs is improving the formula with the goal of making the battery using its technology last 500 cycles.

Now, the most effective strategy may not be to substantially change the battery design and reshape the battery, but to study the existing characteristics of the battery, and then improve it little by little. For example, the battery already contains a battery management system, which is used to monitor the operation of the battery and detect whether there is a problem. A useful solution is to make such systems better. After all, the management system is already a part of every battery, and manufacturers do not need to find innovative and expensive ways to integrate new technologies.

"Enterprises can use advanced sensors or other methods to collect battery data, especially in large devices where the battery system consists of thousands of batteries." Ian McClenny, an analyst with battery research institute Navigant Research, pointed out that "it can accurately locate the batteries whose performance does not meet the standard, which is helpful to extend the battery life."

San Diego battery safety company Amionx is taking this approach. Bill Davidson, the company's chief operating officer, said that its approach, known as SafeCore, was the last line of defense. SafeCore does not change the components of the battery itself.

Like other companies, Amionx focuses on licensing technology to existing battery manufacturers. But if the progress is too slow, they will consider making their own batteries and putting them on the market. Davidson said, "If I don't see such products in the market in 2019, I will be very disappointed."