Lithium-ion batteries are used in a wide variety of consumer devices and are the dominant form of mobile energy storage. But the production of Li-ion batteries negatively impacts the environment and imposes a substantial cost on the consumer. Extending the lifetime of Li-ion batteries can reduce both the environmental and monetary cost of battery production. This thesis explores the factors that limit battery lifetime, and provides guidance for extending lifetime. It also evaluates how companies, whose devices contain Li-ion batteries, explain these factors to users. This work has been published under the same title in the Journal of Energy Storage with the following citation:

Electrification can reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of light-duty vehicles. Previous studies have focused on comparing battery electric vehicle (BEV) sedans to their conventional internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) or hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) counterparts. We extend the analysis to different vehicle classes by conducting a cradle-to-grave life cycle GHG assessment of model year 2020 ICEV, HEV, and BEV sedans, sports utility vehicles (SUVs), and pickup trucks in the United States. We show that the proportional emissions benefit of electrification is approximately independent of vehicle class. For sedans, SUVs, and pickup trucks we find HEVs and BEVs have approximately 28% and 64% lower cradle-to-grave life cycle emissions, respectively, than ICEVs in our base case model. This results in a lifetime BEV over ICEV GHG emissions benefit of approximately 45 tonnes CO2e for sedans, 56 tonnes CO2e for SUVs, and 74 tonnes CO2e for pickup trucks. The benefits of electrification remain significant with increased battery size, reduced BEV lifetime, and across a variety of drive cycles and decarbonization scenarios. However, there is substantial variation in emissions based on where and when a vehicle is charged and operated, due to the impact of ambient temperature on fuel economy and the spatiotemporal variability in grid carbon intensity across the United States. Regionally, BEV pickup GHG emissions are 13%–118% of their ICEV counterparts and 14%–134% of their HEV counterparts across U.S. counties. BEVs have lower GHG emissions than HEVs in 95%–96% of counties and lower GHG emissions than ICEVs in 98%–99% of counties. As consumers migrate from ICEVs and HEVs to BEVs, accounting for these spatiotemporal factors and the wide range of available vehicle classes is an important consideration for electric vehicle deployment, operation, policymaking, and planning.

Two-dimensional semiconductors, such as MoS2, are leading candidates for the production of next-generation optoelectronic devices such as ultrathin photodetectors and photovoltaics. However, the commercial application of 2D semiconductors is hindered by growth techniques requiring hours of heating and cooling cycles to produce large-area 2D materials. We present here a growth technique that leverages high-intensity optical irradiation of a solution-processed (NH4)2MoS4 precursor to synthesize MoS2 in one-tenth the time of typical furnace-based CVD. From start to finish, the technique produces uniform 2D MoS2 across 4-in. wafers within 15 min. Raman spectroscopy, in-plane XRD, and XPS show a 2H MoS2 crystal structure with a stoichiometry of 1.8:1 S:Mo. AFM scans show that the films are 2.0 nm thick MoS2 with a roughness of 0.68 nm. Photoluminescence spectroscopy reveals the characteristic 1.85 eV bandgap. The as-grown films were used to make field-effect transistors with a mobility of 0.022 cm2 V−1 s−1 and photodetectors with a responsivity of 300 mA/W and an external quantum efficiency of 0.016%, demonstrating their potential for optoelectronic device development. This rapid thermal processing growth technique reduces MoS2 synthesis time by an order of magnitude relative to comparable techniques and enables greater accessibility to 2D semiconductors for researchers and developers.

Electrification of delivery fleets has emerged as an important opportunity to reduce the transportation sector’s environmental impact, including reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. When, where, and how vehicles are charged, however, impact the reduction potential. Not only does the carbon intensity of the grid vary across time and space, but charging decisions also influence battery degradation rates, resulting in more or less frequent battery replacement. Here, we propose a model that accounts for the spatial and temporal differences in charging emissions using marginal emission factors and degradation-induced differences in production emissions using a semi-empirical degradation model. We analyze four different charging strategies and demonstrate that a baseline charging scenario, in which a vehicle is fully charged immediately upon returning to a central depot, results in the highest emissions and employing alternative charging methods can reduce emissions by 8–37%. We show that when, where, and how batteries are charged also impact the total cost of ownership. Although the lowest cost and the lowest emitting charging strategies often align, the lowest cost deployment location for electric delivery vehicles may not be in the same location that maximizes environmental benefits.

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