American Nobel laureate in chemistry John Goodenough, who received the prize in 2019 at the age of 97 as the oldest person to date, has died. Born in Jena in 1922 to American parents, Goodenough died on Sunday at the age of 100. the University of Texas at Austin on Monday with He was a “dedicated public servant, a beloved mentor, and a brilliant but humble inventor.” Goodenough is best known for his contributions to the development of modern lithium-ion batteries.
The foundations for lithium-ion batteries were laid in the 1970s during the oil crisis. At that time, Stanley Whittingham of Binghamton University in New York State began researching superconductors and discovered titanium disulfide, an extremely high-energy material. He used it as an innovative cathode in a lithium battery. Metallic lithium as an anode material releases a lot of electrons, which means that the battery would have had great potential – if metallic lithium were not very reactive and therefore the battery explosive.
John B. Goodenough of the University of Texas at Austin, winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry at age 97, recognized that the cathode had even more potential if it were made of a metal oxide rather than a metal sulfide. After a systematic search, he showed in 1980 that up to four volts can be generated with a cobalt oxide cathode. The Nobel Prize Committee described this as a “major breakthrough that led to significantly more powerful batteries”.
Based on the Goodenough cathode, Akira Yoshino of Meijo University in Nagoya, Japan, developed the first commercially viable lithium-ion battery in 1985. Instead of reactive lithium in the anode, he used a carbon material (oil coke). The result was a durable battery that is lightweight and can be charged hundreds of times before performance deteriorates.
“Rechargeable world created”
In 1991, the first lithium-ion batteries came on the market. Their advantage, according to the Nobel Prize Committee, is that they are not based on chemical reactions that destroy the electrodes, but on the flow of lithium ions that move back and forth between the anode and the cathode.
“Through their work, they have created the conditions for a wireless and fossil-free society, bringing the greatest benefit to humanity,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm recognized the achievements of the three researchers in 2019. They would create a “rechargeable world have created.
Source: Krone
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