24M Develops Separator to Reduce Battery Fire Risk... Mass Production Demonstration by Year-End

24M Technologies, a secondary battery technology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, announced on the 13th that it plans to demonstrate mass production of its modified battery separator, '24M Impervio,' which reduces the fire risk of electric vehicles and energy storage systems (ESS), by the end of this year and launch it in the market in 2025 or 2026.

Overcharging, identified as a major cause of secondary battery fires, is a phenomenon where charging continues beyond the safe charging threshold, causing overheating. In lithium-ion or lithium-metal batteries, overcharging can lead to the formation of dendrites (lithium crystals growing in branch-like shapes on the battery's anode) and internal short circuits, which can cause battery fires and explosions.

The 24M Impervio, announced by 24M Technologies in January, is a technology that controls individual cells at the national level to block metal dendrite formation and measures battery performance to detect early defects. The company explained, "By monitoring the electrochemistry of cells and implementing safety devices in the event of potential short circuits to prevent overheating, it can prevent large-scale fires and massive recall incidents."

24M also revealed the results of recent new tests. In these tests, two products were compared: a 10 ampere-hour (Ah) high-nickel NMC/graphite pouch cell using the 24M Impervio separator and a conventional nickel NMC/graphite pouch cell. Both cells were fully charged and then subjected to 100% overcapacity or up to twice the maximum voltage specified by the manufacturer.

24M explained, "The test results showed that the cell using the 24M Impervio maintained robust performance without short circuits or overheating even after one hour of overcharging, whereas the commercial cell experienced an internal short circuit caused by dendrites 10 minutes into overcharging and exploded after 30 minutes, causing a large fire."

Naoki Ota, Chairman and CEO of 24M, stated, "Battery safety is a major obstacle to the popularization of electric vehicles, and recent electric vehicle fires worldwide highlight the need for new battery safety innovations." 24M also explained that it is currently collaborating with mass production partners and license partners for the initial product launch.