Nobel Prize in chemistry honors 3 for lithium-ion battery advances

STOCKHOLM — If you’re reading this on a cellphone or laptop computer, you might thank the three winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry for their work on lithiumion batteries.

The batteries power cellphones, laptops, electric cars and countless other devices and could become the foundation for a greener future. Batteries that economically store energy from renewable sources like the wind and sun open up new possibilities to curb global warming.

The prize announced Wednesday went to John B. Goodenough, 97, an engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin; M. Stanley Whittingham, 77, a chemistry professor at the State University of New York at Binghamton; and Akira Yoshino, 71, of chemical company Asahi Kasei Corp. and Meijo University in Japan.

Goodenough, who is considered an intellectual giant of solid-state chemistry and physics, is the oldest person to win a Nobel Prize — edging out Arthur Ashkin, who was 96 when he was awarded the Nobel for physics last year.

The three scientists each 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.

All batteries store chemical energy that can be converted into electricity. But earlier batteries were unsafe, too heavy or not rechargeable — limiting their practical use.

In the 1970s, Whittingham, who had researched superconductors at Stanford University, was hired by Exxon at a time when the petroleum giant was investing in research on energy storage.

Whittingham harnessed the tendency of lithium — the lightest metal — to give away its electrons to make a lightweight battery capable of generating just over two volts.

By 1980, building on Whittingham’s work, Goodenough had doubled the capacity of the battery to 4 volts by using cobalt oxide in the cathode — one of two electrodes, along with the anode, that make up the ends of a battery.

But that battery remained too unstable for general commercial use. That’s where Yoshino’s work in the 1980s came in. He eliminated the volatile pure lithium from the battery, and instead opted for lithium ions that are safer. He added another material in one electrode that reduced the potential for fires.

This step paved the way for the first lightweight, safe, durable and rechargeable commercial batteries to be built and enter the market in 1991.