Thermally Triggered Interfacial Debonding for Lid-to-Frame Disassembly in Electric Vehicle Battery Packs

The rise in electric vehicles (EVs) with lithium-ion batteries supports net-zero goals, but the increasing demand will inevitably generate more battery waste. Current pack designs often rely on permanent joining techniques, which hinder disassembly and thereby limit serviceability, reuse and recycling. A critical challenge is the removal of the battery lid, typically bonded to the pack frame with sealant adhesives. In the absence of design for disassembly requirements for OEMs, this study investigates a novel debonding strategy focused on the lid-to-frame bonding. A silane-based adhesive commonly used in battery packs is first characterised under tensile, shear and mode I conditions to establish the baseline performance in the range of flexible adhesive properties. Herein, a heat-activated primer is introduced as a debondable interfacial layer between the adhesive and the substrate. Upon activation at 150 °C, the primer significantly reduces adhesion, around 98% of the initial joint strength, enabling room temperature debonding. The primer demonstrates strong compatibility with epoxy and polyurethane adhesives, but its performance with silane-based systems still needs to be improved in terms of the primer’s compatibility with silane-based adhesives. Finally, a small-scale testing apparatus is developed to evaluate primer effectiveness in the disassembly of battery lids. This approach represents a promising step toward more serviceable, recyclable and sustainable battery systems.