Enabling High-Voltage Electric Mobility

Why Laromer^® UV Oligomers Are Enabling the Next Generation of EV Battery Insulation

The rapid transition toward electric mobility is redefining performance expectations for battery materials. As electric vehicle (EV) platforms move from 400‑volt to 800‑volt architectures, battery cell components are exposed to increasingly severe electrical, thermal, and mechanical stresses. These demands are pushing conventional insulation materials to their limits and accelerating the adoption of new coating technologies.
 
Among these, UV‑curable coatings based on Laromer oligomers have emerged as a highly effective solution – combining exceptional dielectric performance, fast processing, and formulation flexibility. Rather than incremental improvement, these systems represent a step change in how insulation for high‑voltage battery cells can be designed and manufactured.

High‑Voltage EV Architectures Demand a Rethink of Insulation Materials

Next‑generation EV platforms increasingly rely on 800‑volt battery systems to enable faster charging, higher power efficiency, and extended driving range. While these advances benefit vehicle performance, they place unprecedented requirements on cell insulation materials.
 
Traditional polymer insulation films, often used as secondary protection layers, typically fail to withstand breakdown voltages beyond ~2,500 volts. Under high electrical stress, these films can delaminate or peel away from the cell surface – leading to loss of insulation integrity and, in worst cases, safety‑critical failure.
 
In contrast, modern battery insulation solutions must reliably withstand breakdown voltages in the 3,000–4,000-volt range and beyond, while maintaining adhesion, flexibility, and chemical resistance throughout the battery’s lifetime.

Why UV‑Curable Coatings Are Gaining Traction in Battery Manufacturing

UV‑curable coatings offer a unique combination of performance and productivity advantages that directly address the challenges of battery cell insulation:

However, the performance of a UV‑curable insulation coating is ultimately defined by its binder chemistry. This is where Laromer oligomers play a decisive role.

Laromer Oligomers: Designed for Electrical Insulation Performance

Laromer UV oligomers are specifically engineered to deliver a balance of flexibility, adhesion, and dielectric strength, which is essential for high‑voltage battery applications.

Key design requirements addressed by Laromer include:

These requirements are met through tailored urethane and polyester acrylate architectures, allowing formulators to fine‑tune performance without compromising processability.

Tailored Binder Selection: Balancing Mechanical Integrity and Electrical Insulation

Flexible Urethane Acrylates as Primary Insulating Binders

For EV battery cell insulation, binder selection plays a decisive role—not only in coating adhesion and flexibility but also in electrical insulation performance. In UV‑curable systems, dielectric strength and volume resistivity are governed by polymer backbone polarity, crosslink density, and network homogeneity after curing. Laromer oligomers are specifically engineered to address these requirements.

Flexible urethane acrylates are commonly selected as the main binder backbone for battery insulation coatings due to their ability to combine mechanical compliance with high electrical resistivity.

Co‑Binders for Enhanced Dielectric Stability and Durability

To further optimize insulation performance, selected co‑binders are incorporated to adjust network stiffness, reactivity, and chemical robustness – without sacrificing electrical properties.

Insulation Performance by Design, Not Thickness

By combining flexible urethane acrylates with carefully selected co‑binders, Laromer‑based systems enable insulation coatings that achieve high volume resistivity and dielectric breakdown strength at practical film builds. This binder‑driven approach allows formulators to decouple electrical performance from excessive coating thickness – supporting compact battery designs and efficient material usage.
 
In high‑voltage EV battery applications, this formulation‑level control of electrical insulation is a key differentiator of Laromer UV oligomers.

Proven Electrical Performance at Practical Film Thickness

In battery manufacturing, insulation coatings must perform not only in the lab but under industrial conditions. UV‑curable Laromer based coatings demonstrate strong and reproducible performance at application‑relevant film thicknesses.
 
When applied to aluminum substrates pretreated with Chemetall^® Oxsilan, representative Laromer based systems achieve:

Electrical testing confirms:

These results demonstrate that high electrical insulation is achievable without excessive coating thickness, enabling compact cell designs and efficient material usage.

Monomer Selection: Completing the Insulation Design

While oligomers define the coating backbone, reactive diluents (monomers) play a critical role in electrical performance. Studies clearly show that monomer polarity and functionality can significantly influence volume resistance and breakdown behavior.

In Laromer‑based formulations, careful monomer selection enables:

This reinforces an important insight: electrical insulation is a formulation‑level property, driven by synergy between oligomer design and monomer choice—not by any single raw material.

Laromer as a Platform, not a Single Product

What distinguishes Laromer in EV battery applications is not one individual product but the breadth and consistency of the portfolio. From highly flexible urethane acrylates to tougher polyester systems, Laromer enables:

As battery voltages continue to rise and production volumes accelerate, materials must deliver both performance headroom and process robustness—areas where Laromer UV oligomers consistently demonstrate value.

Conclusion: Enabling High‑Voltage Battery Safety Through Smart Resin Design

The shift toward high‑voltage EV batteries is redefining insulation requirements – and creating new opportunities for advanced coating technologies. UV‑curable coatings based on Laromer oligomers offer a powerful combination of high dielectric performance, fast processing, and formulation flexibility, addressing both technical and manufacturing challenges.

By enabling insulation performance beyond traditional films and supporting scalable production, Laromer solutions help transform high‑voltage battery design from a constraint into a competitive advantage – supporting safer, faster, and more efficient electric mobility.