Overview of anti-fire technology for suppressing thermal runaway of lithium battery: Material, performance, and applications

Abstract

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are widely used, but safety issues frequently occur, hindering further development. With rapid technological development the continuous improvement of battery energy density makes the safety problem of LIB increasingly prominent. Therefore, we urgently need to develop a new type of fire extinguishing agent with rapid fire extinguishing and efficient cooling functions to effectively suppress the occurrence and spread of LIB fires. As a result, an advanced LIB fire extinguishing technology is proposed, which is crucial for battery safety and fire risk prevention. Therefore, it is necessary to classify, compare the performance, and analyze the mechanisms of various LIB fire prevention technologies that have been developed so that users can more conveniently choose appropriate types of technologies. Firstly, the thermal runaway (TR) mechanism, process characteristics, and five reaction types of LIB are summarized. Secondly, the extinguishing mechanisms, effects, advantages, disadvantages, and applicable scenarios of 11 commercial extinguishing agents, categorised as solid, liquid, and gas are reviewed. In addition, the mechanism, effect and problems of seven new types of fire prevention materials developed during the past two decades are also summarized. Finally, the paper proposes the development direction of LIB's TR suppression fire extinguishing technology from three aspects. Overall, developing efficient, green, and environmentally friendly fire prevention and extinguishing materials is essential to rapidly suppress fires and minimise reignition risks. Developing strategies for the protection period, temperature rise stage, occurrence of small and large fires for the entire development process of LIB can achieve safety protection throughout the entire lifecycle of LIB. At the same time, it is also necessary to develop refined and intelligent fire prevention technologies, combined with the characteristics of LIB fires and the needs of different scenarios, to achieve fire protection in various scenarios, such as large, medium, small, and micro, and ensure the safe and stable operation of LIB in various application environments.