- The award was announced by Göran K Hansson, secretary-general of The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
- The prizes come with a 9-million kronor cash award, a gold medal, and a diploma
- The scientists had unique breakthroughs that laid the foundation for the development of a commercial rechargeable battery
Lithium-ion batteries have revolutionized the world. The increase in the adoption of battery electric vehicles is also driving the demand for Lithium-ion batteries. Amazingly, this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino “for the development of lithium-ion batteries.”
The award was announced by Göran K Hansson, secretary-general of The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The Nobel committee said the lithium-ion battery has its roots in the oil crisis in the 1970s, when Whittingham was working to develop methods aimed at leading to fossil-fuel-free energy technologies, reported The Associated Press.
Never dreamed it would revolutionize electronics
In an interview with the news daily, Whittingham told that he had no inkling that his work decades ago would have such a profound impact. He further stated, “We thought it would be nice and help in a few things, but never dreamed it would revolutionize electronics and everything else.”
2019 Chemistry Laureate John Goodenough doubled the lithium battery’s potential, creating the right conditions for a vastly more powerful and useful battery.#NobelPrize pic.twitter.com/ygivR7hySG
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 9, 2019
“This year’s Nobel Prize laureate Akira Yoshino succeeded in eliminating pure lithium from the battery, instead of basing it wholly on lithium ions, which are safer than pure lithium. This made the battery workable in practice,” the Nobel Prize official Twitter handle tweeted.
“Curiosity was the main driving force for me.”
– newly awarded Chemistry Laureate Akira Yoshino speaking at today’s press conference announcing his #NobelPrize. Congratulations! pic.twitter.com/VLlVC4VAmL
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 9, 2019
“In the early 1970s, Stanley Whittingham awarded this year’s Chemistry Prize, used lithium’s enormous drive to release its outer electron when he developed the first functional lithium battery,” the tweet added.
The three scientists had unique breakthroughs that laid the foundation for the development of a commercial rechargeable battery, an alternative to older alkaline batteries containing lead, nickel or zinc that had their origins in the 19th century, reported The Associated Press.
The prizes come with a 9-million kronor cash award, a gold medal and a diploma that are conferred on December 10 — the anniversary of Nobel’s death in 1896 — in Stockholm and in Oslo, Norway.
