Recent progress in lithium-ion battery thermal management for a wide range of temperature and abuse conditions

Abstract

Lithium-ion batteries are important power sources for electric vehicles and energy storage devices in recent decades. Operating temperature, reliability, safety, and life cycle of batteries are key issues in battery thermal management, and therefore, there is a need for an effective thermal-management system. This review summarises the latest research progress on lithium-ion battery thermal management under high temperature, sub-zero temperature, and abuse conditions. Heat generation mechanisms are characterised under both normal and abuse conditions. Different cooling methods, which include air cooling, liquid cooling, phase change cooling, heat pipe cooling, and their combinations are reviewed and discussed. Thereafter, features of different battery heating methods such as air/liquid heating, alternate current heating, and internal self-heating are discussed. An improvement in battery safety under abuse conditions is discussed from the perspective of battery material modification and thermal management design. The research progress in recent investigations is summarised, and the prospects are proposed. • The investigations on the lithium ion battery thermal management is reviewed. • The air, liquid, PCM and combined cooling methods are discussed. • The external, alternating current and self-heating methods are analyzed. • The thermal runaway mechanism and prevention methods are discussed. • Research challenges and directions for future studies are provided.