Exploring the use of 3D graphene sponge composited phase change material for improved thermal performance in battery thermal management systems

Abstract

The phase change material (PCM) cooling system is evolving towards lightweight, high thermal conductivity, and high integration with comprehensive heating and cooling capabilities to enhance its broader range of applications. In this study, a high-integrity thermal management system (TMS) based on 3D graphene sponge composited phase change material (CPCM) was developed comprising a melamine sponge (MS), reduced graphene oxide (RGO), and paraffin wax (PW). The RGO is discontinuously distributed on the MS skeleton, with no chemical bonding between the components. With the increase of the concentration of graphene oxide solution from 2 mg/ml to 10 mg/ml, the properties of thermal conductivity, leakage-proof performance, and electrifying heating were dramatically improved by 27 %, 8 %, and 15.6 times, respectively. At −10 °C, the cells can be heated by adding an electric current to the CPCM, with the heating power positively correlated with the loading current. The heating performance and energy consumption of composite PCM were comprehensively analyzed at different sizes. For the single cell, the temperature rise rate can reach 2.2, 4.3, 9, and 12 °C/min at 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 A current loading, respectively. In the charging-discharging cycle test under −10 °C, the heating of CPCM could maintain the temperature of the battery module between 22 °C and 27 °C at 1 charging rate (C-rate) operation. At normal conditions, the cooling performance of CPCM was close to pure PW. However, the temperature uniformity of CPCM was poorer than that of PW, especially at high-temperature conditions due to the low thermal conductivity of MS and discontinuous distribution of RGO. This study provides a new design for PCM system with comprehensive performance of lightweight, temperature control for low and high temperatures, and leak-proof.