Detection and Prediction of the Early Thermal Runaway and Control of the Li-Ion Battery by the Embedded Temperature Sensor Array

Abstract

Sorts of Li-ion batteries (LIB) have been becoming important energy supply and storage devices. As a long-standing obstacle, safety issues are limiting the large-scale adoption of high-energy–density batteries. Strategies covering materials, cell, and package processing have been paid much attention to. Here, we report a flexible sensor array with fast and reversible temperature switching that can be incorporated inside batteries to prevent thermal runaway. This flexible sensor array consists of PTCR ceramic sensors combined with printed PI sheets for electrodes and circuits. Compared to room temperature, the resistance of the sensors soars nonlinearly by more than three orders of magnitude at around 67 °C with a 1 °C/s rate. This temperature aligns with the decomposition temperature of SEI. Subsequently, the resistance returns to normal at room temperature, demonstrating a negative thermal hysteresis effect. This characteristic proves advantageous for the battery, as it enables a lower-temperature restart after an initial warming phase. The batteries with an embedded sensor array could resume their normal function without performance compromise or detrimental thermal runaway.