Thermal and Calorimetric Studies on the Safety of Post-Lithium Batteries

The interest in post-lithium batteries as an alternative to lithium-ion batteries boosted recently due to their substantial abundance, low-cost, inherent safety, and sustainability. In recent years, the crucial need for the improvement of battery safety is emphasized and safety still remains a critical barrier for post-lithium technology. Heat generation during cycling is one of the most salient features that require a thermal management system which controls the temperature of each cell/battery pack in order to mitigate the risk of thermal runaway (TR). Therefore, thermal, and calorimetric studies are conducted on sodium and magnesium batteries. Different sodium-based cathode materials and magnesium-based cathode materials are assembled into full cells and studied. The activation/formation, cyclability, degradation mechanism, self-discharging, and aging influence on heat generation during cycling are comprehensively investigated and compared. Thermal data and various resistances by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy give a relationship to calculate the individual heat contributions, e.g. heat by internal resistance, solid interphase, and diffusion process. ... mehrThermal stability of electrode materials at different de-sodiation /de-magnesiation states draws great attention in cell design and is taken into consideration for current studies because this is one of the reasons for the strong state of charge (SOC) dependence of the thermal runaway phenomenon, which is the most critical safety issue. A good thermal performance of post-lithium batteries is required to secure the upscaling of this new technology. These data can facilitate optimizing the design of thermal management systems accordingly to the cell’s thermal performance.