Thermal management systems including vapor chambers and phase change materials and vehicles including the same

A unit cell for a battery module, the unit cell comprising:

• a vapor chamber comprising an evaporator surface coupled to a first face of a battery cell, and a condenser surface, wherein the evaporator surface and the condenser surface are fluidly connected by a wick;
• and
• a phase change material (PCM) shell comprising:
• a first capsule encapsulating a first PCM, wherein the first capsule is coupled to a first edge surface of the battery cell and is coupled to the condenser surface of the vapor chamber, wherein the first edge surface intersects the first face and a second face of the battery cell;
• a second capsule encapsulating a second PCM, wherein the second capsule is spaced apart from the first capsule in a direction that is both transverse to a vertical direction and away from the first edge surface, and is coupled to the condenser surface of the vapor chamber;
• and
• one or more ribs separating the first capsule and the second capsule, wherein the one or more ribs are thermally anisotropic, allowing thermal energy to flow from the vapor chamber to the one or ribs while restricting the flow of thermal energy from the one or more ribs to the vapor chamber, wherein:
• the evaporator surface is configured to transfer heat from the first surface of the battery cell to a working fluid to heat the working fluid to evaporate the working fluid,
• the condenser surface extends between the first and second capsules and is configured to transfer heat from the working fluid to the first PCM and the second PCM to condense the working fluid, and
• a latent heat of fusion temperature of at least one of the first PCM and the second PCM is lower than a latent heat of vaporization temperature of the working fluid.

A vehicle including a thermal management system for removing heat from a plurality of battery cells of a battery module of the vehicle, the thermal management system comprising an array of unit cells, each unit cell comprising:

• a vapor chamber comprising a working fluid and an evaporator surface and a condenser surface that are fluidly connected by a wick, and the evaporator surface is coupled to a first face of a battery cell of the plurality of battery cells and absorbs waste heat generated by the battery cell;
• and
• a phase change material (PCM) shell comprising:
• a first capsule encapsulating a first PCM, wherein the first capsule is coupled to a first edge surface of the battery cell of the plurality of battery cells and is coupled to the condenser surface of the vapor chamber, wherein the first edge surface intersects the first face and a second face of the battery cell;
• a second capsule encapsulating a second PCM, wherein the second capsule is spaced apart from the first capsule in a direction that is both transverse to a vertical direction and away from the first edge surface, and is coupled to the condenser surface of the vapor chamber;
• and
• one or more ribs separating the first capsule and the second capsule, wherein the one or more ribs are thermally anisotropic, allowing thermal energy to flow from the vapor chamber to the one or ribs while restricting the flow of thermal energy from the one or more ribs to the vapor chamber, wherein the condenser surface extends between the first capsule and the second capsule and is coupled to the first and second PCM and rejects waste heat to the first and second PCM.