Recently the Standardization Administration of China (SAC) announced the publication of GB 31241-2014 Safety Requirements for Lithium Ion Cells and Batteries Used in Portable Electronic which will come into force on Aug 1st, 2015.
This compulsory national standard (GB) specifies the requirements and testing methods of electrical safety, environmental safety, and mechanical safety for lithium ion cells and batteries. In addition to general test items (including work safety parameters, labelling, warning statement and lifetime), the standard also requires some 30 other tests on the battery environmental effects, battery electrical safety, safety of battery protection circuits and safety of system protection circuits.
The formulation of GB 31241 borrowed directly from well-established international test methods such as UN, IEC and UL regulatory frameworks but differs in testing methods relating to thermal abuse, overcharge testing and drop tests. The standard has also added new test requirements on battery protection circuits, operation in high temperature, fire resistance of the materials, some of which are already used in relevant international standards.
The standard is a significant step towards improving the safety of lithium ion batteries and related charger products on the Chinese market.
