From insulating substrates to battery fire barriers, many invisible ceramic "guardians" are hidden within a new energy vehicle, quietly enhancing its range and safety with their lightweight yet robust forms.

Dec 31st,2025 64 Views

In the production workshop of Qingdao QiXing New Materials Co., Ltd., the unremarkable black silicon powder, after undergoing the controlled temperature activation and combustion synthesis process, has finally been transformed into white silicon nitride powder that is used in well-known new energy vehicles such as Tesla and BYD.

It is hard to imagine that this high-performance ceramic material, known as the "king of structural ceramics", once faced long-term challenges of technological monopoly and supply constraints in China. In the past, high-end silicon nitride powders were completely dependent on imports from Japan, Sweden and Germany.

Nowadays, as domestic enterprises break through technological barriers, these "small particles" made of ceramics are gradually penetrating into the core components of new energy vehicles, playing an indispensable role in enhancing the vehicle's range and ensuring safety.

01 Insulation & Heat Dissipation: The "Chip Mattress" Breaking Monopolies

Within the power heart of a new energy vehicle—the electric control system—the inverter is a key component that converts battery DC power to AC power for the motor. Inside this core component lies a crucial fundamental material: the silicon nitride ceramic substrate.

It is primarily used to carry the chips of the EV's electric control system, acting like a custom-made "mattress" for the chips. This "mattress" must possess excellent insulation, high thermal conductivity, and a thermal expansion coefficient matching the chips to ensure the massive heat generated by power chips during efficient operation can be rapidly dissipated.

Previously, the core raw material for this "mattress"—high-performance silicon nitride powder—was monopolized by foreign companies for over sixty years. Qingdao Cixing broke this deadlock through its independently developed temperature-controlled activation combustion synthesis process, dramatically reducing the reaction cycle from the traditional 72 hours to just 4 hours, significantly lowering energy consumption and cost.

This breakthrough in domestic technology brought tangible performance improvements. BYD's newly announced Han L model, capable of "charging for 5 minutes to gain 400 km of range," utilizes a substrate made from domestic silicon nitride powder as one of its core technologies. Compared to previous-generation materials, using a silicon nitride substrate can improve a vehicle's charging efficiency and driving range by 5% to 10%.

02 Safety Assurance: The "Ceramic Guardians" Throughout the Battery Pack

If the silicon nitride substrate guards the vehicle's "brain," then within the "heart" of the new energy vehicle—the power battery pack—a variety of ceramic components in different forms silently protect safety.

Hunan Andias Electronic Ceramic Co., Ltd. overcame the technical challenge of sealing and connecting ceramic to metal. Its produced "new power battery ceramic sealed connectors" are used between the battery cover and terminal poles, achieving a connection with high insulation, high strength, and high sealing. This once import-dependent critical small component is now widely used in domestic new energy vehicles.

Statistics show that a new energy vehicle's electric control system and battery pack interior can contain up to a thousand various electronic ceramic components. They ensure absolute insulation and stable connections for high-voltage electricity in complex environments, forming the fundamental safety line.

More cutting-edge ceramic technology directly targets the battery's most deadly risk—thermal runaway. Zhejiang Rouhe New Energy Materials Company developed an elastic ceramic nanofiber aerogel. Thin as a cicada's wing, it can protect objects behind it unharmed under the assault of 1300°C high-temperature flames.

This material is made into lightweight inserts installed between individual battery cells within a module. If a cell undergoes thermal runaway and catches fire, this "ceramic fire shield" can effectively block flame spread, buying precious escape time for passengers.

03 Future Applications, Performance Enhancement - "Multidimensional Roles"

The application of ceramics in new energy vehicles goes far beyond electronic control and batteries. On the path of pursuing higher performance, its role is becoming increasingly diverse.

In high-speed drive motors, traditional steel bearing balls may fail due to electrochemical corrosion at extremely high rotational speeds. However, silicon nitride ceramic bearing balls, with their inherent electrical insulation properties, low density and high wear resistance, have become an ideal alternative.

It not only reduces friction and heat, but also effectively eliminates the electrical corrosion problem caused by bearing current, significantly prolonging the lifespan of the bearings. This technology has been applied to the motors of some models of brands such as Tesla, XPeng and NIO.

Furthermore, ceramic brake discs (carbon ceramic brake discs) have long been a symbol of high-performance vehicles due to their high-temperature resistance, anti-degradation properties, and lightweight design. As costs have gradually decreased, they have also begun to appear on the configurations of high-end electric vehicle models, offering more powerful and stable braking capabilities.

The research frontier continues to expand ceramics' boundaries. Researchers from institutions like Fuzhou University are exploring the use of specific dielectric ceramic materials to create battery temperature sensors. These materials can operate stably in high-temperature, harsh environments, monitoring battery temperature in real-time to provide more accurate and reliable early warnings for preventing thermal runaway.

From relying on imports to breaking monopolies, domestic silicon nitride powder has successfully entered the international supply chains of mainstream players like Tesla and BYD.

Back at Qingdao Cixing's factory, the latest generation of silicon nitride powder synthesis equipment is in place. The R&D center is now focused on products with even higher added value, with future applications in broader fields like precision machine tools and semiconductor equipment.

As new energy vehicles evolve towards greater safety, efficiency, and intelligence, these advanced ceramic materials, hidden throughout the vehicle, will continue to act as crucial "unsung heroes,"推动 the entire industry's steady climb towards the higher ends of the value chain.