CAREER: Environmental Sustainability of Next Generation Lithium Ion Batteries for Electric Vehicles

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1351602 (Yuan). The research objectives of this CAREER grant are to investigate the environmental sustainability of next generation lithium ion batteries (NG LIBs) and to create a sustainability analysis tool for sustainable design and manufacturing of NG LIBs for battery-powered electric vehicles (BEVs), collaborating with General Motors, Johnson Controls, and PE International. More specifically, the research objectives of this career grant include: (1) Modeling and investigations of NG LIB manufacturing emissions; (2) Experimental investigations of nano-particle emissions from NG LIB manufacturing through in situ and ex situ techniques; (3) Thermodynamic energy modeling and validation of NG LIB manufacturing; (4) Closed loop sustainability management of NG LIB technologies through recycling and sustainability analysis tool development. The long-term educational goal is to establish a comprehensive educational program on environmental sustainability of BEVs. To fulfill this goal, the educational objectives of this CAREER grant are to provide cutting-edge research-based knowledge and educational resources for environmental sustainability of NG LIBs. The educational plans of this proposal include: (1) Students' education and training through curriculum development and research participation; (2) Industrial professionals? education and outreach through industrial seminars, short course and conference seminars;(3) General public education and awareness through online videos, public radio programs and website downloadable materials. Major innovations of the project include the development of process-based mathematical models and tools validated through experimentation for understanding and improving the environmental sustainability of NG LIB technology. The project aims to lead to the development and application of NG LIB technology in large-scale industrial production with reduced environmental impacts and economic costs. NG LIB is under development using nanotechnologies which have significant sustainability issues in real production. Moreover, nano-wastes and nano-particle emissions from NG LIB productions may pose severe risks of exposure for both occupational and public health. In addition, NG LIB production is very energy-intensive, which contributes not only to the environmental impacts, but also to the high costs of NG LIB products. This project aims to reduce NG LIB manufacturing wastes and emissions (including nano-particle emissions), improve the energy efficiency, and enhance the sustainable development of NG LIB technology for future large-scale applications on EVs. Environmental sustainability performance of NG LIB technologies is significant and must be fully investigated and improved before large-scale application in future EVs. The research results will be broadly disseminated through academic journals, conference proceedings, internet media, etc., and will improve people's understanding about the potential environmental impacts of NG LIB technology and assist in developing a sustainable infrastructure for NG LIB production for EVs. In practice, the research results will be applied by industrial partners (GM and JC). The educational impact includes involving high school students and teachers, developing a new course on sustainable design and manufacturing, integrating the research results into two current UWM courses (enrolling more than 120 students/year), teaching a short course in the UWM School of Continuing Education for local and national industrial professionals, offering the course materials through UWM's online MS program, holding seminars at leading industrial companies (GM and JC) and premiere conference workshops (ISSST), sharing the materials in such national high-impact databases and websites as NSDL and NCLT, and offering video and public radio programs for the general public. This project will train one postdoc, one Ph.D. student and two undergraduate students (with the support of NSF REU and UWM SURF programs). Underrepresented students will be recruited from UWM student professional societies. The educational materials will be shared with the PI's collaborators in both the U.S. and China.