Flame-retardant non-woven fabric for EV battery safety
A new grade of Lastan™, a flame-retardant nonwoven fabric (photo), has been launched. The material is designed to enhance EV battery safety with superior resistance to flames and particle blasts. Lastan is an alternative to conventional materials for thermal runaway protection. It can be utilized in top covers, busbar protection sleeves and other applications within the EV battery pack. Demand is increasing for materials in EV battery-cover applications that have excellent resistance against flames and particle blasts, as well as good electrical insulation properties. While mineral-based materials are generally used as protection against thermal runaway at present, such materials tend to be heavy and brittle. Being stiff, these materials are difficult to adapt to complex shapes, making processability an issue for automotive OEMs. Lastan is a non-mineral, flame-resistant fabric made by air-baking a special acrylic fiber at 200–300°C. It is characterized by high flame resistance and good electrical insulation, which are further improved by a special coating process that also augments abrasion resistance. This allows the material to provide effective protection against particle bombardment from venting gas. In addition to its high flame resistance, Lastan is resistant to high-pressure impact by particles 200–500 μm in diameter. It also provides electrical insulating capacity of up to 3.5 kV at a thickness of 1 mm. The material also features outstanding processability, being highly flexible while maintaining its performance characteristics in sheets as thin as 0.8 mm. — Asahi Kasei, Tokyo, Japan