Another breakthrough in power supply technology – lithium-ion batteries: 2019 Nobel Prize winners in chemistry John Goodenough, Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino

Abstract

In 2019, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to the creators of lithium-ion batteries, who over the past half century have literally revolutionized the battery power supply. The prize was shared equally by American physicist and materials expert John Bannister Goodenough, British-American chemist Michael Stanley Whittingham and Japanese process chemist Akira Yoshino. The operation of lithium-ion batteries is based on the electrochemical oxidation reactions of lithium metal, which is part of the anode. When discharged, lithium is oxidized and its cation moves to the cathode; when charged, under the action of the applied electrical voltage, lithium cations move to the anode, where the recovery occurs. The biographies of the laureates and their main achievements are described briefly. Lithium-ion batteries are produced in huge quantities and have created another breakthrough in energy supply technology.