Lithium ion battery fires – Stanford team adopts a direct approach

Fire in a Jeep Grand Cherokee was attributed to a Note 7 charging on the dashboard
Credit: Fox News/news.com.au

Samsung's recent problem with the Note 7, highlighted the lithium ion fire safety risk.¹

Solutions exist,² but a research team at Stanford University has decided to adopt the direct approach: fit a fire extinguisher.

Credit: Kai Liu, Wei Liu, Yongcai Qiu, Biao Kong, Yongming Sun, Zheng Chen, Denys Zhuo, Dingchang Lin & Yi Cui/Science Advances

A. Fire retardant (green) is contained in a polymer shell, inside the lithium ion cell.

B. If the battery temperature rises too high (as in thermal runaway), the polymer shell melts, releasing the fire retardant.

New Atlas: “Lithium-ion battery packs its own fire extinguisher”,
https://newatlas.com/lithium-ion-battery-fire-extinguisher/47401/

9to5Google: “Stanford team creates battery w/ built-in fire extinguisher to avoid future Note 7-like disasters”, https://9to5google.com/2017/01/16/stanford-team-creates-battery-w-built-in-fire-extinguisher-to-avoid-future-note-7-like-disasters/
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¹ “More lithium ion battery fires – not just phones”, https://hhg2tech.blogspot.com/2016/11/more-lithium-ion-battery-fires.html

² “Samsung Galaxy Note 7 fires – cause – simple solution”, https://hhg2tech.blogspot.com/2016/09/samsung-galaxy-note-7-fires-cause-what.html / Samsung Galaxy Note 7 production permanently discontinued Samsung permanently discontinuing production Galaxy Note 7 smartphones halted global sales devices reports replacement devices catching fire South Korean regulatory filing stop manufacturing Note 7s consumer safety Samsung struggling regain consumer trust recall recalls prompted criticism faulty devices company's handling of the problem global halt sales Note 7 multiple reports exploding batteries major retailers stopped selling phones Samsung recalled devices initial recall identified manufacturing defect batteries battery top-of-the-line smartphone shipping new Note 7 phones safe safer reports replacements catching fire Samsung announcement announce stopping sales devices Monday Tuesday Wednesday South Korean firm comment identified cause of the fires replacement devices officials in Seoul several possibilities including batteries more difficult analyse cause accidents various patterns of the accidents official Korean Agency for Technology and Standards met with Samsung experts company offering exchange Note 7s other products refund them Note 7 could cost Samsung $17 billion analysts Samsung's decision pull Note 7s off the shelves raises fresh doubts about firm's quality control huge financial and reputational costs analysts permanent end Note 7 sales cost Samsung $17 billion tarnish other phone products minds consumers carriers investors wiped nearly $20 billion off Samsung Electronics market value Tuesday local time shares gadget fire extinguisher Stanford fire extinguisher lithium ion battery fires /