Printed Temperature Sensors and Heating Elements
We are developing temperature sensors, heating elements, and balancing resistors for applications in battery systems. Our focus is on highly integrated devices satisfying simultaneously the low-cost and high robustness targets coming from the automotive and industrial businesses.
The devices have to withstand mechanical forces related to expansion and contraction of the battery cells during normal operation, including vibrations. Printed electronic technologies meet these requirements to a high extend and are also very well suited for high-volume production, for example with sheet-fed or roll-to-roll processing, at low-cost. Furthermore, thin printed layers constituting the temperature sensor yield to a low heat capacity and therefore result in a low time delay for the detection of temperature changes of the sensed device. The low thickness of the printed elements, compared to conventional discrete temperature sensors or devices, make them easy to place between the battery cells, including pouch cells. Moreover, research is done for implementing the sensors onto the cell surface, or even inside the cell packaging.