High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries: Thermal Safety, Thermal Management and Solid-State Technologies

Dear Colleagues,

Lithium-ion batteries remain central to electric vehicles, grid energy storage, consumer electronics and emerging electrified transportation. As cell energy density and fast-charging capability continue to rise, battery thermal safety and reliable operation across the full life cycle have become critical challenges. This Special Issue invites original research and review papers on high-performance lithium-ion batteries, with emphasis on thermal runaway mechanisms, early warning and diagnosis, thermal safety design, battery thermal management, solid-state lithium-ion batteries, advanced materials, modeling, testing and system integration. Contributions may address mechanisms from material, cell, module, pack and system levels, as well as new experimental methods, multiphysics simulations, data-driven approaches and engineering solutions that improve safety, durability and energy efficiency. We particularly encourage contributions that leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to accelerate the understanding, prediction and mitigation of thermal safety issues—from materials discovery to real-world battery system operation. We welcome studies that connect fundamental understanding with practical battery design, manufacturing, management, and application in electric vehicles, energy storage systems, aerospace and other demanding scenarios. Particular interest is given to strategies that suppress heat generation, inhibit thermal runaway propagation, improve abuse tolerance and enable the safe deployment of next-generation high-energy or solid-state lithium-ion batteries.

The scope of this Special Issue includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Thermal runaway initiation, propagation, suppression and post-failure analysis in lithium-ion cells, modules and packs;
• Thermal safety characterization under mechanical, electrical and thermal abuse conditions;
• Advanced battery thermal management, cooling/heating strategies, phase-change materials, heat pipes and immersion cooling;
• Solid-state lithium-ion batteries, solid electrolytes, interfacial stability and safety evaluation;
• High-energy electrode, electrolyte, separator and flame-retardant material design for safer lithium-ion batteries;
• Electrochemical–thermal–mechanical modeling, multiscale simulation and digital twins for lithium-ion batteries;
• AI/ML-enhanced battery management systems, including physics-informed neural networks (PINNs), hybrid models and reinforcement learning for adaptive safety control;
• Data-driven early-warning algorithms, anomaly detection and probabilistic risk assessment using real-world operational data (e.g., cloud-based BMS and vehicle telemetry);
• Machine-learning-assisted material discovery and screening for solid electrolytes, flame-retardant additives and high-stability interfaces;
• AI-enabled multiscale modeling (from atomistic simulations to system-level digital twins) for accelerated parameter identification and thermal runaway prediction;
• Lifetime degradation, fast-charging safety, second-life utilization and recycling-related safety of lithium-ion batteries, with AI-driven aging trajectory modeling and state-of-health (SOH) prognostics.

Prof. Dr. Jie Liu
Prof. Dr. Xiaogang Wu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Batteries is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• lithium-ion batteries
• thermal runaway
• thermal safety
• battery thermal management
• solid-state batteries
• electrochemical–thermal modeling
• battery management systems (BMS)
• safety diagnostics
• high-energy materials
• energy storage systems
• machine learning/artificial intelligence
• data-driven modeling/digital twins
• early warning and anomaly detection
• multiphysics simulation
• battery aging and state estimation