A team of boffins from Stanford University have emerged from their smoke-filled labs with a lithium-ion battery which has its own built-in fire extinguisher.
The move is designed to stop situations where a lithium-ion battery goes into a melt-down and sets fire to something else, like a person, bedding or a passenger plane.
The boffins have added a component called "triphenyl phosphate" to the plastic fibres of the part that keeps negative and positive electrodes separate. Triphenyl phosphate is used as a flame retardant for various electronics. If the battery's temperature reaches 150 degrees Celsius, the plastic fibres melt and release the chemical.
It can stop batteries from burning up within 0.4 seconds. Yi Cui, this project's lead scientist said that the chemical won't be released under normal temperatures which means it will run normally unless it goes into a melt-down.
"Using our 'smart' separators, battery electrochemical performance will not be affected by the flame retardant under normal conditions. However, once there is a potential thermal runaway, the flame retardant will be activated and nip the fire or explosion in the bud."
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