The membrane separator allows higher power, while reducing potential for runaway thermal buildup
Doug Smock, contributing editor — Design News, December 30, 2009
The key technology that may pave the way for widespread, safe use of electric vehicles is a little-known polymer film system that separates the anode and the cathode in lithium-ion batteries.
The separator itself does not produce any electrochemical reactions, but it has a major impact on energy density, power density, cycle life and safety of the battery.
Exxon, which commercialized the first rechargeable lithium-ion battery, is one of the technology leaders in development of specialty polyolefin films that perform well as separators. Pat Brant, the chief polymer scientist at ExxonMobil Chemical, headed a global research team that developed a separator system that can withstand more demanding hybrid-vehicle battery conditions – the type that will be encountered when GM launches the Chevy Volt in a few months.
“It’s a true breakthrough that can help deploy more hybrid vehicles faster,” says Brant. Hybrid vehicles use less fuel, than traditional vehicles. Replacement of 10 percent of the gas-powered cars in the U.S. with hybrid-electric vehicles would result in carbon-dioxide reductions equivalent to taking 5 million cars off the road.
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