Abstract
The advancements in Lithium Ion Batteries (LIBs) over the last three decades has significantly altered the modern world. The availability of efficient, portable electrical energy storage has enabled the proliferation of personal electronics, improved the viability of renewal energy sources such as wind and solar, and begun to transform the transportation sector.
Most next generation battery technologies, such as Lithium Metal Solid State Batteries (LMSSB), rely on the adoption of lithium metal for their improved energy storage density. The large-scale adoption of batteries using lithium metal anodes may raise safety concerns, with the properties of lithium making it unstable in the room environment. Proponents of LMSSBs often list improved safety over LIB technology due to the replacement of the flammable liquid electrolyte with an inflammable solid. This view largely ignores the impact on safety of adding lithium metal, which exothermically reacts with water to evolve hydrogen gas. This potential safety consideration as well as others from a fault tree analysis of LMSSB will be introduced and explored.