The vast majority of current electric or hybrid vehicles are equipped with a lithium-ion battery. On the market since 1991, this type of battery is also found in phones, laptops and many other devices. Its inventors, Stanley Whittingham, John Goodenough and Akira Yoshino, have just been awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
In the 1970s, in the midst of the oil crisis, the British Whittingham demonstrated the advantage of lithium compared to other metals used until then (copper, platinum, nickel …) to store more energy with a bulk and a weight reduced while providing a longer life for the battery. Thanks to Exxon tanker financing, he created the first lithium battery.
Development in three stages
In 1980, the American Goodenough began to replace the cathode metal sulfide with cobalt oxide, doubling the performance of the battery through an increase in voltage. But the rapid release of electrons and the agglomeration of lithium ions at the end of the electrodes, with a risk of contact and therefore short circuit, requires stabilization. This comes in 1985 thanks to the Japanese Yoshino, who uses petroleum coke for the anode. Sony was the first company to market a lithium-ion battery.
John Goodenough becomes the oldest Nobel laureate at 97 years old. His work and those of his two confreres are now recognized for their influence on today's world. However, as the electric vehicle market is about to explode, the environmental and social issues surrounding the use of lithium-ion batteries (metal mining, manufacturing, recycling) are becoming increasingly important. And in terms of technology, the following is already preparing with the development of solid electrolyte batteries.
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