Study on thermal runaway propagation inhibition of battery module by flame-retardant phase change material combined with aerogel felt

Phase change materials (PCMs) are susceptible to fire and may accelerate heat transfer when thermal runaway propagation (TRP) in lithium-ion battery (LIB) modules, requiring the design and safe use of insulation structures with excellent flame-retardant properties. In this work, the sandwich structure composed of flame-retardant phase change material (FRPCM) combined with aerogel felt (AEGF) is used to study the inhibitory effect on TRP of pouch battery modules (BMs). The structural materials are applied between cells, and the changes of temperature, voltage, mass and other parameters in the TRP process are analyzed by changing the thickness of FRPCMs and AEGFs, and the changes of heat flux of materials were also qualitatively analyzed. The results show that the increase of FRPCM and AEGF thickness can increase the interval time of TRP and reduce the overall thermal risk of the BMs. Compared to Test-1, the increase in TRP time between cells 1 and 2 in Test-2 to Test-5 ranged from 52.7% to 358.7%, and the longest thermal runaway interval reached 844 s. Both the structural materials in Test-6 and Test-7 block the TRP. Combining the thermal conductivity of PCMs and the thermal insulation properties of AEGFs, this work can effectively conduct heat to the environment and block the TRP when applied to BMs, which provides a valuable reference for efficient inhibition and blocking of TRP.