Thermal Effects of Alternative Environmentally Friendly Material Instead of Silicone in Battery Modules

Abstract

Nowadays, the demand for electric vehicles is increasing rapidly. One of the most important components of electric vehicles is the battery pack. The reduction of their carbon footprint and recyclability is getting more important. For that reason, the usage of environmentally friendly materials or production methods in their production should be studied. This paper aims to investigate an alternative material for silicone which is used to avoid vibration of the battery cells inside of the battery module. Synthesized Hydrogel, which is not hazardous to the environment, is suggested instead of silicone. Besides its environmentally friendly property, Hydrogel does not use any other curing process like silicone and thus reduces the curing process time and energy that is spent for the application of the silicone which is 100 oC and 5 hours. The heat generation of the battery cells inside of the battery module is also numerically analyzed with electrochemical thermal modeling and the comparison of the silicone and suggested Hydrogel material instead of silicone is performed. The results showed that Hydrogel can be used instead of silicone and this material can remove the curing process during the production of the module and can reduce the carbon footprint of the battery module.