Battery safety, sodium-ion and recycling research head to ECS meeting

Researchers from UL Research Institutes’ Electrochemical Safety Research Institute will present work on lithium-ion thermal-runaway mitigation, sodium-ion battery safety and emissions, and battery recycling diagnostics at the 250th Meeting of The Electrochemical Society, taking place Oct. 25-29 in Calgary, Canada. The institute’s team, including its vice president and executive director Chao-Yang Wang, vice president and distinguished scientific advisor Judy Jeevarajan, and several research scientists, will share studies aimed at challenges facing battery manufacturers, integrators and end users as electrification scales across vehicles and stationary storage.

“Scaling electrification requires batteries that deliver not only higher performance but also predictable safety across their full lifecycle,” Wang said in the announcement. “At the ECS Meeting, our researchers will share data, methods, and insights that can help the industry evaluate emerging chemistries, reduce failure risk, and accelerate the development of safer, more reliable energy-storage systems.” The ECS Meeting convenes battery scientists, engineers, manufacturers and technology developers to exchange research with direct implications for cell design, testing, scale-up and commercialization, and the institute positions its work as relevant to cell manufacturers, energy storage system developers, automakers, hydrogen technology providers, safety engineers, policymakers, standards organizations and recyclers.

The first presentation area addresses thermal-runaway mitigation in high-energy lithium-ion batteries. According to the institute, these studies examine materials, designs and cell conditions that can reduce propagation risk while supporting higher energy density and faster charging for electric vehicle and stationary-storage applications. Wang will give an invited talk titled “Safety of Energy-Dense Lithium Batteries,” and Jeevarajan will deliver an invited presentation, “Materials and Designs Studied to Prevent Propagation of Thermal Runaway in Small Lithium-Ion Modules.” Lead research scientist Vallabha Rao Rikka will present “Rapid SEI Formation Enabled by Flame-Retardant Ionic Salts for Fast-Charging Ni-Rich NMC Lithium-Ion Cells,” covering work on the solid-electrolyte interphase formed with flame-retardant ionic salts in nickel-rich NMC cells designed for fast charging.

The second area focuses on sodium-ion battery safety and emissions characterization. As sodium-ion technology moves toward broader commercial use, the institute says this research provides data on cell and module behavior, thermal-runaway emissions and the influence of state of charge, which it describes as key inputs for product design, testing and risk management. Jeevarajan will present “Safety of Commercial and Custom-Made Sodium-Ion Cells and Small Modules,” while Vinay Premnath, director of safety research, will present “Characterization of Particulate and Gaseous Emissions from Thermal Runaway of Sodium-Ion Cells.” Research scientist Avijit Karmakar will present “State-of-Charge Implications on Thermal Runaway of Sodium-Ion Cells and Modules,” examining how a cell’s charge state affects its thermal-runaway behavior.

The third area covers battery recycling and failure diagnostics. The institute states that this research evaluates practical recycling processes and post-mortem protocols that can improve material recovery, produce more consistent failure data and support battery-lifecycle decisions. Research scientist Devashish Salpekar will present “Multi-Use of Salt Solutions in the Recycling of Lithium-Ion Cylindrical and Pouch Cells,” describing the reuse of salt solutions across recycling of cylindrical and pouch cell formats. Research scientist Frederick Gray will present “Impact of Electrode Washing Protocols on Post-Mortem Diagnostics for Lithium-Ion Battery Failure Analysis,” addressing how electrode washing procedures affect the quality of post-mortem failure analysis.

The Electrochemical Safety Research Institute, part of UL Research Institutes, works on the science and engineering of electrochemical energy storage and conversion, combining first-principles science, advanced characterization, accelerated testing and system-level modeling to understand how energy technologies fail and to anticipate their limits. UL Research Institutes is a nonprofit research organization dedicated to advancing public safety through safety science, building on the UL legacy dating to 1894, conducting independent research across fire safety, electrochemical safety, chemical insights, materials discovery, digital safety, and research experiences and education, and publishing its findings openly to guide standards bodies, policymakers and communities. The presentations at the Calgary meeting are scheduled talks within the society’s technical program; the detailed data and findings behind each talk will be those presented by the researchers during the session itself.

Subject of Research: Battery safety, sodium-ion characterization and recycling research presentations at the 250th Electrochemical Society Meeting

Article Title: UL Research Institutes to present battery safety, sodium-ion, and recycling research at the 250th Electrochemical Society Meeting

Article References: UL Research Institutes to present battery safety, sodium-ion, and recycling research at the 250th Electrochemical Society Meeting. Original publication (Bibliographic details unavailable.)

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Keywords: battery safety, thermal runaway, lithium-ion, sodium-ion batteries, battery recycling, failure analysis, Electrochemical Society, UL Research Institutes, energy storage, electric vehicles, emissions characterization, post-mortem diagnostics