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Prize","lithium-ions-pioneers-scoop-nobel","article/lithium-ions-pioneers-scoop-nobel",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":550,"content":560,"excerpt":639,"featured":50,"reporter":640,"_editable":644,"component":645,"seo_title":543,"categories":646,"visibility":655,"author_company":49,"featured_image":656,"seo_description":639,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":661,"formattedArticleDate":662},"9f673616-c521-4fee-9660-4fd67f655115","2019-10-25 00:00",[],[551],{"slug":552,"name":553,"content":554},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":555,"image":556,"bio":558,"linkedin":559},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":557},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":561,"content":562},"doc",[563,571,581,586,595,600,607,612,617,622,629,634],{"type":564,"attrs":565,"content":567},"heading",{"level":566,"textAlign":49},4,[568],{"text":569,"type":570},"The lithium ion batteries’ developers are recognised for the development of a critical 21st century technology","text",{"type":572,"attrs":573,"content":574},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[575,577,579],{"text":576,"type":570},"As the ",{"text":578,"type":570},"Benchmark Quarterly Review ",{"text":580,"type":570},"was going to press it was announced that the Nobel Prize in chemistry for 2019 was to be awarded “for the development of lithium-ion batteries.”",{"type":572,"attrs":582,"content":583},{"textAlign":49},[584],{"text":585,"type":570},"This year’s award went to Stanley Whittingham, professor at Binghamton University; John Goodenough, Cockrell Chair in Engineering at the University of Texas; and Akira Yoshino, professor at Meijo University.",{"type":572,"attrs":587,"content":588},{"textAlign":49},[589,591,593],{"text":590,"type":570},"Stanley Whittingham first developed the lithium ion battery in the 1970s. Speaking as the guest of honour at ",{"text":592,"type":570},"Benchmark Minerals",{"text":594,"type":570},"’ Cathodes 2017 event he said: “This field started not with an electronics company but with a little company called that was then called Esso [Exxon]. We came up with some ideas on electrical storage based on lithium. I spent 15 minutes in New York city with a committee of their board of directors. The next day they said they were going to invest in it and build an R&D project. Those days research was just like drilling oil wells – ‘we put the money in, hopefully 10% make some money’.”",{"type":572,"attrs":596,"content":597},{"textAlign":49},[598],{"text":599,"type":570},"Whittingham added, “all is not bad with resource companies, they pushed it hard and in fact went commercial for a short period.” The oil crisis of the 1970s gave oil companies the impetus to invest in research and development projects outside of traditional fossil fuels.",{"type":572,"attrs":601,"content":602},{"textAlign":49},[603,605],{"text":604,"type":570},"Following on from Whittingham’s work in the 1970s, John B. Goodenough demonstrated in 1980 that a metal oxide would provide the lithium ion’s",{"text":606,"type":570},"cathode greater potential than metal sulphide, using a cobalt oxide. Using this new cathode material, his battery was capable of producing twice the power of Whittingham’s at four volts.",{"type":572,"attrs":608,"content":609},{"textAlign":49},[610],{"text":611,"type":570},"Goodenough continued the work of Whittingham, producing the rechargeable lithium ion battery, having established that the batteries could be charged after manufacturer.",{"type":572,"attrs":613,"content":614},{"textAlign":49},[615],{"text":616,"type":570},"As the interest in lithium ion batteries waned, Japanese electronic companies were looking for ways to produce commercially viable, lightweight, rechargeable batteries: in steps Akira Yoshino.",{"type":572,"attrs":618,"content":619},{"textAlign":49},[620],{"text":621,"type":570},"Yoshino successfully used Goodenough’s cobalt oxide cathode along with a petroleum coke anode material – instead of a lithium material used previously in the anode.",{"type":572,"attrs":623,"content":624},{"textAlign":49},[625,627],{"text":626,"type":570},"Finally, in 1991, 174 years after lithium was first",{"text":628,"type":570},"discovered, the rechargeable lithium ion battery became truly commercially available.",{"type":572,"attrs":630,"content":631},{"textAlign":49},[632],{"text":633,"type":570},"Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, reportedly telephoned Yoshino on receipt of the award, saying: “As a Japanese, I’m proud of you for developing something that has changed people’s lives,” Abe continued, “it is a very good message to the world that a Nobel laureate has been selected from Japan.”",{"type":572,"attrs":635,"content":636},{"textAlign":49},[637],{"text":638,"type":570},"The achievements of these three pioneers have had and will continue to have a profound impact on the trajectory of human development. The Nobel Prize Committee summed up the importance of this achievement, saying “lithium-ion batteries have revolutionised our lives since they first entered the market in 1991. They have laid the foundation of a wireless, fossil fuel-free society, and are of the greatest benefit to humankind.”","The lithium ion batteries’ developers are recognised for the development of a critical 21st century technology As the Benchmark Quarterly Review was going to press it was announced that the Nobel Prize in chemistry for 2019 was to be awarded “for the development of lithium-ion batteries.” This year’s award went to Stanley Whittingham, professor at […]",[641],{"slug":552,"name":553,"content":642},{"job_title":555,"image":643,"bio":558,"linkedin":559},{"filename":557},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"9f673616-c521-4fee-9660-4fd67f655115\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[647,650,653],{"slug":648,"name":649},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":651,"name":652},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":654,"name":8},"lithium","private",{"id":49,"alt":657,"name":657,"focus":657,"title":657,"source":657,"filename":658,"copyright":657,"fieldtype":659,"meta_data":660,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/28341bce85/bm-5d9dada95abb461000d2844f-orignal-goodenough-whittingham-yoshino-3-2-press-e1571738763257.jpg","asset",{"alt":657,"title":657,"source":657,"copyright":657},"Oct 25, 2019","25th October 2019",[],[],1781280296382]