Abstract

The battery thermal management system based on phase change materials (PCMs) has proven to be a safe, inexpensive, and high-performance technology, which is currently gaining popularity over the other battery thermal management systems. PCMs are able to absorb heat generated by batteries, prolong battery life, and improve their performance. Organic compounds, such as paraffin, are widely used as phase change materials for the battery thermal management systems; however, there are no published data on the application of inorganic PCMs. Therefore, the main objective of this work is developing of two composite inorganic PCMs based on magnesium chloride hexahydrate and characterizing their properties for passive thermal control of lithium-ion battery packs. Moreover, to have a valid baseline and compare the behavior of two inorganic PCMs with currently commercialized and well investigated organic PCM, paraffin wax was used as reference material for both mixtures. All three PCMs were impregnated into the expanded graphite matrix to enhance their thermal conductivity. The material characterization studies, including thermal properties investigation, density and viscosity measurements, soaking and compression testing, evaluation of thermal expansion, thermal conductivity, and micro X-ray fluorescence analysis, were conducted for all PCMs. The results indicate that both inorganic mixtures are appropriate for thermal management of Li-ion battery packs. Future work with the developed and characterized composite inorganic PCMs will include electrical cycling studies and nail penetration tests to reveal their effectiveness for passive thermal management of Li-ion battery packs.