Thermal management of lithium-ion batteries: from single cooling to hybrid cooling
Zhang Qianqian, Zhang Wei, Wang Siyang, Yang Xufei, Liu Guanglin, Sun Dongliang, Yu Bo
Abstract
To address safety hazards from battery thermal runaway and efficiency losses caused by temperature non-uniformity, a systematic review is conducted on the evolution of thermal management technologies for lithium-ion batteries. Guided by the transition from single cooling strategies to composite systems that integrate and coordinate multiple approaches, a four-dimensional analytical framework has been established, encompassing air cooling, liquid cooling, phase-change material (PCM) cooling, and hybrid cooling technologies. Findings indicate that air-cooling systems retain a cost advantage in medium-to small-scale applications with relatively low energy density, where optimization efforts primarily focus on battery array configuration and airflow channel design. Liquid-cooling methods-such as cold-plate liquid cooling, immersion cooling, and heat-pipe cooling-have emerged as the mainstream solution in high-energy-density systems, with future research expected to address challenges related to cold-plate heat-exchange structures, fluid-distribution uniformity, and coolant selection. PCM cooling enables passive temperature regulation through the latent heat of solid-liquid phase transitions; however, its low thermal conductivity and phase-change hysteresis necessitate the synergistic application of advanced composite PCMs and enhanced heat-exchange structures. Multi-component hybrid cooling technologies, which simultaneously address temperature uniformity and rapid heat-dissipation demands under variable operating conditions such as high charge/discharge rates, are expected to become a major focus in the next stage of lithium-ion battery thermal management development.