The three people responsible for bringing lithium-ion battery technology to the world have been awarded Nobel Prizes in Chemistry.
The Nobel laureates are professors John B. Goodenough (the oldest recipient of the prize), M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino.
The prize was announced by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden, on 9 October.
Japan-born Yoshino (the general manager, Yoshino Laboratory, Asahi Kasei Corporation, Japan), UK-born Whittington (Binghamton University, State University of New York, US), and German-born Goodenough (University of Texas, US) all share the SEK9 million ($905.000) prize.
The award was given because the lithium-ion battery had ‘revolutionised our lives since they first entered the market in 1991, laying the foundation of a wireless, fossil fuel-free society’.
A statement by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences stated: “Lithium-ion batteries are used globally to power the portable electronics that we use to communicate, work, study, listen to music and search for knowledge. Lithium-ion batteries have also enabled the development of long-range electric cars and the storage of energy from renewable sources, such as solar and wind power.
A speech by the UK’s Royal Society president Venki Ramakrishnan noted the cathode Goodenough developed for the lithium-ion battery built on the work of his fellow laureate Whittingham, and was made commercially viable by the work of Yoshino.
Ramakrishnan said: “Scientific breakthroughs are rarely— if ever— a solo endeavour and it is absolutely fitting that this year’s Nobel Prize for Chemistry should be shared in this way.
“Professor Goodenough’s contributions in the field of materials science have fundamentally shaped the technology we take for granted today. From powering the smartphone in your pocket, to his defining work on the properties of magnetism, these contributions have opened new avenues for scientific investigation and engineering.”
Story of the lithium-ion battery, by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The foundation of the lithium-ion battery was laid during the oil crisis in the 1970s. Whittingham worked on developing methods that could lead to fossil-fuel-free energy technologies. He started to research superconductors and discovered an extremely energy-rich material, which he used to create an innovative cathode in a lithium battery.
This was made from titanium disulphide, which, at a molecular level, has spaces that can house— intercalate— lithium ions.
The battery’s anode was partially made from metallic lithium, which has a strong drive to release electrons. This resulted in a battery that literally had great potential, just over two volts. However, metallic lithium is reactive and the battery was too explosive to be viable.
Goodenough predicted the cathode would have even greater potential if it was made using a metal oxide instead of a metal sulphide. After a systematic search, in 1980 he demonstrated that cobalt oxide with intercalated lithium ions can produce as much as four volts. This was an important breakthrough and would lead to much more powerful batteries.
With Goodenough’s cathode as a basis, Yoshino created the first commercially viable lithium-ion battery in 1985. Rather than using reactive lithium in the anode, he used petroleum coke, a carbon material that, like the cathode’s cobalt oxide, can intercalate lithium ions.
The result was a lightweight, hardwearing battery that could be charged hundreds of times before its performance deteriorated. The advantage of lithium-ion batteries is that they are not based upon chemical reactions that break down the electrodes, but upon lithium ions flowing back and forth between the anode and cathode.
Lithium-ion batteries have revolutionised our lives since they first entered the market in 1991. They have laid the foundation of a wireless, fossil-fuel-free society, and are of the greatest benefit to humankind.
Image: John B Goodenough, M Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino are the Nobel laureates in chemistry for 2019, by: Niklas Elmehed/Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Watch the announcement here: