Wacker Chemie Unveils ELASTOSIL® CM Series: Ceramifying Thermal Barriers for Enhanced EV Battery Safety During Thermal Runaway

Wacker Chemie AG Germany

Overview

Wacker Chemie AG will showcase its ELASTOSIL® CM series at The Battery Show Europe 2026, presenting innovative silicone technologies to significantly enhance EV battery safety. This series offers flexible, thin, and highly stable heat shields that ceramify under thermal runaway stress to form an insulating layer, effectively controlling heat, flames, and particles. The solution aims to improve battery safety and thermal management while contributing to weight reduction in electric vehicles.

In Depth

Key Findings

Wacker Chemie AG is set to debut its groundbreaking ELASTOSIL® CM series at The Battery Show Europe 2026, a revolutionary silicone technology designed to dramatically enhance the safety of electric vehicle (EV) batteries. This series introduces flexible thermal barriers that effectively control the propagation of heat, flames, and particles during a thermal runaway event, improving overall battery safety while also contributing to weight reduction.

Technical / Clinical Details

The ELASTOSIL® CM series comprises silicone elastomers that provide flexible, thin, and highly stable heat shields. The most innovative feature of these materials is their ability to ‘ceramify’ when exposed to extreme thermal stress during a battery cell thermal runaway. This ceramification process transforms the silicone into a hard, thermally and electrically insulating layer, effectively preventing the spread of heat and flames to adjacent cells. This mechanism is crucial for containing thermal runaway propagation within the entire battery pack, thereby safeguarding vehicle occupants. Unlike traditional rigid barriers, the flexibility of the ELASTOSIL® CM series offers greater design freedom within the battery pack and contributes to overall system weight reduction. Wacker will also present other silicone products for e-mobility applications, including TIM gap fillers and materials for battery assembly and automotive power electronics.

Background & Context

As the adoption of electric vehicles accelerates, battery safety has become a paramount concern for both consumers and regulatory bodies. Thermal runaway represents the single largest safety concern in EVs, and its prevention and propagation suppression are urgent challenges for battery manufacturers. New regulations, such as the EU Battery Regulation 2023/1542, emphasize lifecycle safety assessments and robust adhesive performance, making thermal runaway mitigation mandatory. Wacker Chemie AG leverages its extensive expertise in silicone technology to provide an innovative, material science-based solution to this industry challenge.

Strategic Significance & Outlook

The introduction of the ELASTOSIL® CM series holds the potential to establish a new standard in EV battery thermal management and safety design. This technology will be a critical factor in enabling higher energy density batteries while ensuring superior safety. As ceramifying barriers are adopted in more EV models and energy storage systems in the future, they are expected to contribute significantly to the widespread adoption of sustainable mobility. Wacker Chemie AG aims to strengthen its leadership in the e-mobility sector by continuously developing innovative silicone solutions that enhance battery performance, safety, and sustainability.