The development of ever newer, more powerful cell systems requires reliable safety testing of lithium-ion cells to minimize the risk of dangerous incidents such as battery fires. Today's test procedures, such as the propagation test, are used for safety testing, but do not map any real existing cell-internal faults. Here, the battery cells are made to undergo thermal runaway by massive external manipulation. Together with other partners from industry and research, KIT is conducting research in the ProLIB project on an improved test method that more realistically reproduces the stress on a battery cell. Here, so-called lithium plating is induced as an internal cell fault and the behavior exhibited by the cell during the stress test is evaluated. Unlike in the past, no thermal runaway of the cell is forced. In first promising test series with several cell types and chemistries, the researchers were able to show that a more realistic, reproducible test is possible in a new way and are pushing for a new standard for safety testing of lithium-ion batteries in stationary and mobile applications.

Further links

• About the project

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