Operando monitoring of thermal runaway in commercial lithium-ion cells via advanced lab-on-fiber technologies

Wenxin Mei, Zhi Liu, Chengdong Wang, Chuang Wu, Yubin Liu, Pengjie Liu, Xudong Xia, Xiaobin Xue, Xile Han, Jinhua Sun, Gaozhi Xiao, Hwa-yaw Tam, Jacques Albert, Qingsong Wang () and Tuan Guo ()
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Wenxin Mei: University of Science and Technology of China
Zhi Liu: Jinan University
Chengdong Wang: University of Science and Technology of China
Chuang Wu: Jinan University
Yubin Liu: Jinan University
Pengjie Liu: University of Science and Technology of China
Xudong Xia: Jinan University
Xiaobin Xue: Jinan University
Xile Han: Jinan University
Jinhua Sun: University of Science and Technology of China
Gaozhi Xiao: National Research Council of Canada
Hwa-yaw Tam: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon
Jacques Albert: Carleton University
Qingsong Wang: University of Science and Technology of China
Tuan Guo: Jinan University

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Operando monitoring of complex physical and chemical activities inside rechargeable lithium-ion batteries during thermal runaway is critical to understanding thermal runaway mechanisms and giving early warning of safety-related failure. However, most existing sensors cannot survive during such extremely hazardous thermal runaway processes (temperature up to 500 °C accompanied by fire and explosion). To address this, we develop a compact and multifunctional optical fiber sensor (12 mm in length and 125 µm in diameter) capable of insertion into commercial 18650 cells to continuously monitor internal temperature and pressure effects during cell thermal runaway. We observe a stable and reproducible correlation between the cell thermal runaway and the optical response. The sensor’s signal shows two internal pressure peaks corresponding to safety venting and initiation of thermal runaway. Further analysis reveals that a scalable solution for predicting imminent thermal runaway is the detection of the abrupt turning range of the differential curves of cell temperature and pressure, which corresponds to an internal transformation between the cell reversible and irreversible reactions. By raising an alert even before safety venting, this new operando measurement tool can provide crucial capabilities in cell safety assessment and warning of thermal runaway.

Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-40995-3

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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40995-3

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