Sabic to highlight Bluehero™ electrification initiative and advanced material solutions for batteries and energy storage

“The global transition toward clean energy and decarbonization is driving innovation in batteries at an ever faster pace and the battery industry needs new materials with the right property profiles to implement more sustainable, safer and efficient energy storage concepts,” said Bob Maughon, Executive Vice President, Sustainability, Technology & Innovation and Chief Technology and Sustainability Officer at Sabic. “We are firmly committed to support manufacturers with dedicated R&D, focused application engineering, regulatory expertise, and one of the most comprehensive portfolios of high-performance thermoplastics available today so they can make the advances needed to help the world accelerate the shift to clean electricity.”

Sabic’s exhibit at The Battery Show Europe 2022 addresses the need for new battery designs with enhanced features across all levels, from structural integrity to operating safety. Applications, test samples and key visuals on display have been prepared to illustrate and demonstrate the potential overall cost and performance benefits of plastic-intensive solutions in terms of energy density, flame retardancy, electrical safety, thermal insulation, chemical resistance, lightweighting, functional integration, impact resistance and dimensional stability. The company’s offering is targeted at all types of battery components for electric vehicles (EV), E-bikes, marine and industrial vehicles (forklifts, caterpillars) as well as EV charging infrastructure and energy storage systems (ESS).

Close-up on fire safety

Sabic has done extensive research on the performance of EV batteries exposed to external fires and internal runaway situations, a critical focus area of automakers today. At this year’s Battery Show Europe, Sabic’s team will feature its work in this space and share test results that demonstrate the potential of thermoplastic to meet high temperature and pressure loads.

As an example, Sabic will highlight results from a stringent test based on the new UL standard 2596, which is even more demanding and difficult for plastic battery pack materials to pass. It combines pressure, ablative force, heat, and fire into one repeated test, in which 25 battery cells (type 18650) are packed into a steel box and then two cells are heated to the point of thermal runaway. The pressure from the explosion can be higher than the requirements of several OEMs. A 4 mm sheet of STAMAX™ flame retardant resin, a long glass fiber polypropylene material, passed this test six times without any perforation.

One of the highlights at Sabic’s booth is an installation that brings fire testing to the trade show floor using high-tech visual special effects. The Virtual Flame Test Lab allows visitors to execute a simulated flame test on material samples of aluminum and structural thermoplastics. Each step of the test is analyzed and explained while the fire virtually burns the samples.

Highest CTI performance level category for higher-voltage batteries

To help meet the EV manufacturers’ stringent demands of higher-voltage batteries, Sabic’s Specialties business will introduce its new NORYL™ NHP8000VT3 resin at the show. This high-performance, polyphenylene ether (PPO)-based resin achieves the highest comparative tracking index performance level category (CTI PLC0), provides ultra-thin-wall extrusion and thermoforming capability, and meets the UL94 V0 standard at 0.25 mm with non-brominated, non-chlorinated flame retardance. NORYL NHP8000VT3 resin is well suited for insulation film used in EV battery modules to help improve protection against short circuits and fire propagation.

The insulation film and thermoformed part made of NORYL NHP8000VT3 will be displayed at Sabic’s booth.

Delivering additional value

Beyond fire safety, SABIC’s non-halogenated FR resins provide greater design flexibility, significant weight savings – an important feature for supporting the improved driving ranges of EVs – and recyclability to help support the circularity of battery materials.

In addition, the company offers special materials with low temperature ductility to deliver enhanced performance of batteries operated in extremely cold climate, and is also developing hybrid solutions to address additional stringent requirements, such as impact strength and stiffness, over a broad range of temperatures from -30°C to +80°C.

See, experience and discuss

Once again, Sabic’s Petrochemicals and Specialties businesses will exhibit side-by-side at The Battery Show Europe, from June 28 to 30 in Stuttgart, demonstrating how their complementing material portfolios and application development support can help manufacturers reduce system cost and speed the time-to-market of safer and more energy-efficient batteries.