Materials and methods for retarding or preventing thermal runaway in batteries
View Patent ↗One embodiment includes a rechargeable charge storage device including a microcapsule disposed within said rechargeable charge storage device; and a thermal retardant chemical species contained within said microcapsule, wherein said microcapsule is adapted to release said chemical species upon being exposed to a triggering event either prior to or during an unstable rise in temperature of said charge storage device.
1. A rechargeable charge storage device comprising:
a microcapsule disposed within said rechargeable charge storage device;
a thermal retardant chemical species contained within said microcapsule, wherein said microcapsule is adapted to release said chemical species upon being exposed to a triggering event either prior to or during an unstable rise in temperature of said charge storage device; and
at least one shape memory polymer is disposed within said rechargeable charge storage device.
2. The device of claim 1 , wherein said charge storage device comprises at least one of a vehicle battery or a vehicle supercapacitor.
3. The device of claim 1 , wherein said charge storage device comprises a lithium-ion battery.
4. The device of claim 3 , wherein said lithium-ion battery comprises a non-aqueous carbonate electrolyte.
5. The device of claim 4 , wherein said carbonate comprises at least one of ethylene carbonate or polypropylene carbonate.
6. The device of claim 1 , wherein said microcapsule is disposed within at least one of an electrolyte or an electrode comprising said charge storage device.
7. The device of claim 1 , wherein said microcapsule is disposed adjacent at least one of a separator or an electrode comprising said charge storage device.
8. The device of claim 1 , wherein said microcapsule is sandwiched between battery components comprising at least one of electrodes or separators to maintain a separation distance.
9. The device of claim 1 , wherein said chemical species is selected from the group consisting of organic phosphorous containing compounds.
10. The device of claim 1 , wherein said chemical species comprises at least one of metal hydroxides, halogenated compounds, or synergists.
11. The device of claim 1 , wherein said chemical species comprises a polymerization initiator.
12. The device of claim 11 , wherein said polymerization initiator comprising at least one of a furan, thioacetic acid S-phenyl ester, a Lewis acid, or a Lewis base.
13. The device of claim 1 , wherein said microcapsule comprises a polymer shell and a core containing said chemical species.
14. The device of claim 13 , wherein said polymer shell comprises pores communicating with said core.
15. The device of claim 1 , wherein said triggering event comprises a threshold temperature.
16. The device of claim 1 , wherein the shape memory polymer comprises a low density, thermal expandable inorganic filler constructed and arranged to self-expand upon a sudden rise in temperature.
17. The device of claim 1 , wherein the shape memory polymer is filled with electrically insulating thermal expandable fillers.
18. The device of claim 1 , wherein said microcapsule has an outer diameter of approximately 0.1 micron to approximately 1000 microns.
19. The device of claim 1 , wherein said microcapsule has a shell thickness of approximately 1 nm to approximately 500 nm.
20. The device of claim 1 , wherein the microcapsule has a pore size ranging from approximately 1 nm to approximately 100 nm.