Thermal management systems are critical to the maintenance of lithium-ion battery performance in new energy vehicles. While phase change materials are frequently employed in battery thermal management systems, it’s important to address the concerns related to their leakage and flammability, as they can pose hazards to the safety performance of batteries. This paper proposes a novel flame retardant composite phase change material (CPCM) consisting of paraffin, high-density polyethylene, expanded graphite, ammonium polyphosphate, red phosphorus, and zinc oxide. The performance of CPCMs containing different ratios of flame retardants is investigated, and their effects when applied to battery thermal management systems are compared. The results demonstrate that the leakage rate of the flame retardant CPCMs is maintained within 1%, indicating excellent flame retardant performance and thermal management efficiency. The combination of ammonium polyphosphate and red phosphorus in the flame retardant exhibits effective synergistic effects, while zinc oxide may help phosphate compounds create their bridging bonds, which would then make it possible to construct a char layer that would separate heat and oxygen. Under a 2C discharge rate, the maximum temperature of the battery pack remains below 50 °C, and the temperature difference can be controlled within 5 °C. Even under a 3C discharge rate, the maximum temperature and temperature difference are reduced by 30.31% and 29.53%, respectively.

Thermal runaway (TR) of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has always been the most important problem for battery development, and the TR characteristics of large LIBs need more research. In this paper, the thermal runaway propagation (TRP) characteristics and TR behavior changes of three lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries (numbered 1 to 3) under different states of charge (SOCs) were studied. The main parameters discussed include temperature, temperature rise rate, mass, mass change rate, and TRP flue gas ejection behavior. The experimental results indicate that with the increase in SOC, the TRP behavior of the battery is more obvious. The higher the temperature, more blocked temperature rise rate, mass loss rate, and greater mass loss, the shorter the TRP time that can be observed. The TRP interval of 100% SOC battery 1 to 2 is 71.4% smaller than that of 50% SOC, while the TRP interval of battery 2 to 3 is reduced by 87.2%. In addition, a 100% SOC battery pack exhibits spark ejection, while 50% SOC and 0% SOC battery pack exhibit flue gas generation.