Effect of Ceramifiable Silicone Rubber Composite Based Thermal Insulators in Battery Packs

Silicone and rubber composite, often called Ceramifiable Silicone Rubber Composites(CSRCs), has proven to show excellent mechanical and thermal properties. CSRC materials have been mainly used in industrial applications like electrical insulating cables, decorations, and fire-proof materials. The mechanical and ceramifiable properties of CSRC can be altered by changing the silicone rubber matrix and by adding the right additives or fillers. In this work, we prove the potential of CSRCs as thermal insulating materials in battery packs. Specifically, we explore the usage of CSRC inside the battery pack to improve safety during thermal events. We also characterize the material properties before and after exposing the CSRC to elevated temperatures and flame. Finally, we investigate the effectiveness of the CSRC sheet in preventing or delaying cell-to-cell thermal propagation during a thermal runaway event inside the battery pack. Our experiments show that the CSRC sheet significantly reduces the propagation of thermal runaway between cells, improving the safety of the battery pack used in electric vehicles and energy storage applications.