Safety-focused analysis of solvents used in electrolytes for large scale lithium-ion batteries

To better rule out the complex fire risk related to large format lithium ion cells, a detail and new brand systematic evaluation, both at components and cell levels could be an invaluable milestone. Therefore, combustion analysis was conducted for major single organic solvents and their mixtures used in lithium ion battery technology, both in oxygen rich and lean environments using a Tewarson calorimeter. Well controlled test conditions have enabled the determination of key parameters governing the fire induced hazards such as flash point, ease of ignition , heat release rate, effective heat of combustion, specific mass loss rate, as well as the assessment of fire induced toxicity and criteria pollutants. An excellent convergence was obtained from the two calorimetry techniques, namely O2 consumption (OC), and Carbon Dioxide Generation (CDG) for the evaluation of the rates of heat release and effective heat of combustion in the experimental fires of all tested samples in our test conditions. Moreover, a rule of thumb for the screening of new solvents such as the Boie correlation and N-factor were introduced for predicting the heat of combustion and kinetics respectively prior to conducting any experimental work. Fire induced toxicity of single solvents and their mixtures were also briefly examined according to toxic gas measurements performed