The global electric vehicle (EV) market is growing exponentially due to steep advances in battery technologies & types, improved battery management systems (BMS), and emission regulations. With prices of batteries rapidly declining to be under $ 100/kWh, the global EV production which clocked at ~2.1 million cars in 2019 is predicted to jump to ~8.5 million in 2025. The overall EV market share in new car sale is predicted to reach ~58% by 2040. Moving from internal combustion engine to EVs brings its own set challenges for performance required from the polymeric materials being used for managing mechanical, thermal, and vibrational stresses in the new engine (i.e., battery) as well as in the body of the vehicle.<br/>Herein, we will discuss how several polymer backbones including polyurethane and silicone chemistry (individually or hybrid) are utilized by Dow MobilityScience™ to meet unique properties and processing requirements of battery & EV assembly. Several polymer science case studies are discussed where appropriately tuning the thermal properties (insulating vs conductive) and mechanical properties (stiff & tough vs soft & elongating) of the networks generated by the respective chemistries were demonstrated stemming from understanding of polymer structure-property relationship. Tunable polymeric materials in the form of foams, composites, and elastomers synthesized with novel approaches to achieve properties ranging from &lt;1 MPa to &gt;1 GPa as required for specific battery types in EV will be highlighted. The work will demonstrate the thermal barrier or fire resistance (FR) performance to showcase how these polymeric backbones are able to limit the thermal event to a single battery improving the safety of the EV passengers. Additionally, use of material modeling to map their flow, cure, and handling in battery packs using simulations is shown to achieve improved fill and minimize the iteration from product development to validation in newer battery designs.

Crosslinked polymer network materials into electric vehicle (EV) applications - Impact of their mechanical and thermal properties

Where thousands of chemistry professionals meet to share ideas and advance scientific and technical knowledge. Spring 2023 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch at the end of March.

ACS Spring 2023

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.