Latest: At the North American Battery Show, Ascend Performance Materials will showcase its new flame-retardant polyamides and its Trinohex? for electric vehicle safety applications
Ultra electrolyte additives that improve the safety, cycle life and performance of Li-ion batteries.

Safer, higher performance battery chemistries

Ascend, a producer of high-performance materials, will showcase its Trinohex Ultra electrolyte additive, which is now REACH registered in Europe and China.

In third-party testing, Trinohex
Ultra exhibits excellent cathodic protection in both cathode and electrolyte. This protection has been shown to reduce noxious gas generation, improve capacity retention and reduce impedance growth, especially under extreme conditions.

Dave, Senior Business Manager, Sustainability Professional, Ascend
“Battery safety, performance, cost and material availability are the biggest barriers to mass adoption of electric vehicles and renewable energy,” said McNeece. Trinohex
Ultra is a direct solution to these challenges and can be easily integrated into existing battery chemistries and manufacturing processes. ”

High Voltage Safety

Ascend will also introduce two new polyamide technologies in its Starflam? FR portfolio: X-Protect and Color Stabilized Orange.

Starflam X-Protect is a crosslinkable flame retardant polyamide 6,6 designed to withstand thermal runaway in electric vehicle batteries. According to SAE
Tested with AS5127 (a test originally designed for aerospace applications), Starflam X-Protect is fire resistant up to 1100°C for 15 minutes.

“In the open flame test, Starflam
X-protect outperforms standard flame retardant polyamides and even aluminium. In the event of a catastrophic battery failure, the extra protection provides the time needed to keep all passengers safe. ”

In addition, Ascend also provides its Starflam
525K flame retardant polyamide 6,6 has been developed as a color stable orange grade for high voltage connectors and cables. The new orange masterbatch ensures the material retains its color during 5,000 hours of heat aging without compromising performance.

Ian van
Duijvenboode said: “As electric vehicles become more common and mature, technicians and first responders working on these vehicles need to know where the high voltage systems are. Our orange color will remain the same for the life of the vehicle, Clearly mark high pressure areas.”