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Thermal runaway features of 18650 lithium-ion batteries for LiFePO4 cathode material by DSC and VSP2

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Abstract

In view of availability, accountability, and applicability, LiFePO4 cathode material has been confirmed to be better than LiCoO2 cathode material. Nevertheless, few related researches were conducted for thermal runaway reaction of the LiFePO4 batteries. In this study, vent sizing package 2 (VSP2) and differential scanning calorimetry were employed to observe the thermal hazard of 18650 lithium-ion batteries and their content—LiFePO4 cathode material, which were manufactured by Commercial Battery, Inc. Two states of the batteries were investigated, which was charged to 3.6 V (fully charged) and 4.2 V (overcharged), respectively, and important parameters were obtained, such as self-heating rate (dT dt −1), pressure-rise rate (dP dt −1), and exothermic onset temperature (T 0). The results showed that T 0 for fully charged is about 199.94 °C and T max is about 243.23 °C. The entire battery for LiFePO4 cathode material is more stable than other lithium-ion batteries, and an entire battery is more dangerous than a single cathode material. For process loss prevention, the data of battery of VSP2 test were applied as reference for design of safer devices.

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Abbreviations

T 0 :

Initial exothermic temperature (°C)

dT dt −1 :

Self-heating rate (°C min−1)

dP dt −1 :

Pressure-rise rate (bar min−1)

P max :

Reaction maximum pressure (bar)

T max :

Reaction maximum temperature (°C)

ΔH d :

Decomposition of heat (J g−1)

V:

Voltage (V)

CC:

Constant current (A)

CV:

Constant voltage (V)

A:

Ampere (A)

Mass:

Mass of sample before VSP2 experiment (g)

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Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to Mr. S.Y. Guan for his technical support in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Safety, Health, and Environmental Engineering, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology (YunTech), 123, University Rd., Sec. 3, Douliou, 64002, Yunlin, Taiwan, ROC

    Chia-Yuan Wen & Chi-Min Shu

  2. Graduate School of Engineering Science and Technology, YunTech, 123, University Rd., Sec. 3, Douliou, 64002, Yunlin, Taiwan, ROC

    Can-Yong Jhu

  3. Department of Occupational Safety and Health, Jen-Teh Junior College of Medicine Nursing and Management, 1, Jen-Teh Rd., Houlong, 35664, Miaoli, Taiwan, ROC

    Yih-Wen Wang

  4. Department of Electrical Engineering, Hsiuping University of Science and Technology, 11, Gongye Rd., Dali Dist., Taichung, 41280, Taiwan, ROC

    Chung-Cheng Chiang

Authors
  1. Chia-Yuan Wen
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  2. Can-Yong Jhu
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  3. Yih-Wen Wang
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  4. Chung-Cheng Chiang
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  5. Chi-Min Shu
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Correspondence to Chi-Min Shu.

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Wen, CY., Jhu, CY., Wang, YW. et al. Thermal runaway features of 18650 lithium-ion batteries for LiFePO4 cathode material by DSC and VSP2. J Therm Anal Calorim 109, 1297–1302 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-012-2573-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-012-2573-2

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