TOKYO: Matsushita Battery Industrial Co., Ltd., a unit of Japanese electronics group Matsushita Electric Industrial, has set up a large plant for the manufacture of heat-proof lithium-ion battery for use in laptops. The company has begun manufacture of the batteries in April and with this new plant, it will be able to mass-produce them.
Lithium-ion batteries have use in mobile phones, digital cameras and other electronic gadgets, besides notebook PCs.
The company has designed the heat-resistant battery incorporating a heat resistance layer (HRL), which consists of an insulating metal oxide, on the surface of the electrodes. In lithium-ion batteries, there is a polyolefin*2 separator that insulates the cathode from the anode.
These batteries get heated up when the separator is breached by an electrically conductive material like a metal particle, resulting in short-circuit. There have been instances of these short-circuits heating up the batteries and causing minor fires. The insulating material used in the new Matsushita batteries has better heat-resistant properties, the company said, and even when a short-circuit happens, it does not overheat the battery.
The company said besides this property, the HRL is also capable of increasing energy density and mass-producing safer lithium-ion batteries. It added that the technology is a result of the intensive research and development efforts and the main thrust in developing it is safety of the user.
The company has also ensured that the batteries do not get contaminated with any electric conductors by totally eliminating such substances and having a clean environment in the plant.
Matsushita has 119 patents including pending patent applications with regard to the HRL system.
