In the last several years, there has been interest in the development of flexible batteries as a substitute for traditional Li-ion batteries. Flexible batteries can fold, bend, and twist; studies have shown that mechanical stresses and fatigue may decrease battery performance and cause defects. In this paper, the viability of producing a mechanical fatigue-testing device from 3D printed and other off-the-shelf components was explored. The device was made using a servomotor and LCD screen controlled by a programmed Arduino board, and successfully met the expectations to be cheap, easily reproducible, versatile, and applicable to the testing of battery components. In a proof-of-concept test, the device was used to perform repeated folding tests on lithium cobalt oxide cathodes in different configurations, which were then characterized using a laser microscope. 3D topographical renderings suggested that bending at acute angles induces defects on the surface of the electrode where the electrode is creased. In future work, the device will be used to further explore the effect of mechanical fatigue on Li-ion battery components.

This thesis focuses on exploring the reconditioning Ni-MH HEV batteries. The goal of this thesis is to demonstrate the viability of a method for reconditioning Ni-MH HEV batteries which involves charging battery modules in series. To do this, a set of 8 modules were reconditioned by charging them in series and another set of 8 modules were reconditioned by charging them individually. Both sets of modules were charged at a rate of around 0.05C. Additionally, the modules connected in series were charged using a controlled current for cell balancing. The effectiveness of each reconditioning method was evaluated through capacity estimation. The capacity estimation was done during a standard five-hour discharge using simple coulomb counting. This experiment showed that charging the set of 8 modules in series is an effective method to use for reconditioning. Furthermore, it can be reasonably assumed from these results that charging an entire Ni-MH HEV battery pack in series is an effective method for reconditioning.

The objective of this experiment was to use water contact angle (WCA) to measure the effectiveness of adhesion, Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD), and cleaning techniques within different operations at Intel Corporation. Using the Sessile Drop Method, goniometer instrument, and a Video Contact Angle system (VCA), the water contact angle across silicon wafers at various operations were determined. Based on the results, it was concluded that Operation 5 and Step 4.4 within Operation 5 were suspected to cause lack of uniformity across the wafers, which is detrimental to the durability of the wafer and the overall high performance of a microchip. Due to proprietary reasons, it could not be disclosed as to whether adhesion, ALD, or cleaning techniques were implemented and suspected to cause non-uniformity across the wafer, but despite any operation, the topography of the wafer should be leveled. The absolute slopes of Operation 5 and Step 4.4 were 2.445 and 3.189, respectively. These slopes represented the change in contact angles across different positions of the wafer. In comparison, these showed the greatest variation of contact angles across the wafers, meaning the surface topography was more concentrated in certain areas of the wafer than others. Given these characteristics, Operation 5 and Step 4.4 are not qualified to produce high performing microchips because their techniques and methods are prone to cause surface defects, wafer stress, and wafer breakage.