Park Kisu, CTO of SK On: "Developing Integrated Pouch-Prismatic Battery"

Keynote Speech at The Battery Conference, InterBattery 2026

Park Kisu, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of SK On Future Technology Institute, is explaining the company's battery cooling technology at InterBattery 2026 The Battery Conference held at COEX, Seoul on the 11th. Photo by Heejong Kang

SK On has announced that it is developing an integrated battery that combines the characteristics of both pouch-type and prismatic batteries.

Park Kisu, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of SK On's Future Technology Institute, participated as the keynote speaker at "The Battery Conference" during InterBattery 2026 held at COEX, Seoul on March 11, 2026. He stated, "We are developing a new form factor that combines the advantages of pouch-type and prismatic batteries in order to maximize safety."

This product is characterized by enhanced structural safety, as it seals a pouch cell inside a prismatic cell. While pouch cells offer flexible design options, they have been criticized for the difficulty in handling gas emissions that may occur inside the cell.

In contrast, the prismatic-pouch integrated battery under development by SK On can control the emission of gas generated in the pouch cell through the external prismatic cell, thereby reducing the risk of fire.

Pouch-prismatic hybrid battery under development by SK On. Photo by Heejong Kang

At InterBattery, SK On showcased its "On Vent prismatic cell," which is regarded as a core technology for the development of integrated batteries. The On Vent prismatic cell efficiently releases gas during thermal runaway inside the battery, preventing the spread of fire.

SK On, which has so far focused primarily on pouch-type batteries, plans to actively enter the prismatic battery market using its On Vent prismatic cell technology.

On this day, Vice President Park Kisu introduced the "3P Strategy" to strengthen battery safety. The 3P stands for "Prevent," "Protect," and "Predict."

Vice President Park explained, "As batteries expand beyond electric vehicles to applications such as humanoid robots and energy storage systems (ESS), they are becoming more closely integrated into our daily lives. Accordingly, the demand for battery safety is increasing."

SK On stated that for electric vehicle thermal management, it is developing various cooling technologies, including not only the current method of cooling the bottom of the battery but also immersion cooling and Large Surface Cooling (LSC). LSC cooling is a technology in which an aluminum cooling plate is tightly attached to the entire large contact surface between pouch cells to manage heat.

Vice President Park said, "We plan to complete the development of the LSC cooling technology around July, and we are currently proposing it to electric vehicle manufacturers."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.