Research on Thermosensitive Coatings for Thermal Runaway Warning in Energy Storage Power Station

[Introduction] Lithium iron phosphate battery storage power plants are an important basis for new power systems to consume large-scale new energy, however, the thermal runaway of battery cells seriously threatens the operational safety of storage power plants. It is important to conduct real-time monitoring and scientific warning of local overheating in storage power plants. [Method] In this work, a thermal microcapsule with the ability to sense overheating temperature and produce colour changes was prepared and added in appropriate amounts to an epoxy resin matrix to form a composite insulating material with the characteristics of sensing external overheating temperature fields. [Result] Test results show that the colour of the prepared thermosensitive microcapsule/epoxy insulating temperature indication coating can change sensitively with external temperature changes, with a sudden colour change occurring at around 60 °C. When the doping mass fraction of the thermosensitive microcapsules is 0.25%, the insulation strength and dielectric properties of the composite coating are comparable to those of the pure epoxy resin material, maintaining good intrinsic electrical properties. [Conclusion] The thermosensitive colour-changing composite insulation coating proposed in the study can visibly change the temperature of the external local overheating state, providing a new technical route for the application of thermal runaway warning in energy storage power plants, which has certain engineering application value.