Arkema, a leader in specialty materials, announced today that it intends to improve electric vehicle (EV) battery safety with the launch of the first-of-its-kind Foranext® Gaseous Thermal Barrier (GTB) line. This new GTB material is engineered to prevent battery thermal runaway propagation at the origin of battery fires.
The industry has acknowledged the need for manufacturers to continue to develop solutions like immersion cooling fluids to safely improve EV battery charge time. Immersion cooling technology can improve charge time and create an electrical insulation protecting against electric arcing and vibration dampening. Ignition is still a key risk for these fluids and systems.
Foranext® GTB is the game-changing material that can be added to immersion cooling fluid technology to fight thermal runaway propagation. GTB is activated when a battery cell reaches abnormally high temperatures and forms a gaseous barrier around the cell, isolating it from the rest the battery. Gases produced during the thermal runaway process can ignite outside the vehicle, but the presence of GTB to the vented gases decreases ignition probability.
Arkema is the first company to suggest a gaseous alternative to a solid thermal barrier combining the excellent heat dissipation performance of immersion cooling and exceptional thermal insulation provided by Foranext® GTB only to achieve superior results.
Foranext® GTB is a key product that supports Arkema’s sustainable development strategy to address global needs. Arkema is committed to a 48.5% reduction in its GHG emissions for Scopes 1+2 by 2030 compared with 2019, as enabled by concepts like Foranext® GTB.