Goodenough received the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Although little known in the popular science world, Dr. John Goodenough played an important role in the development of the lithium-ion batteries that power today’s phones, computers, portable consoles and cars. As a result of his contributions to science for many years, Goodenough won the US National Medal of Science in 2011 and the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2019.
Although lithium-based batteries attracted the attention of researchers for many years, Goodenough’s research at Oxford University in 1980 provided an important step in technology. As a result of his research, Goodenough produced a new cathode using lithium and cobalt oxide, which produced a higher voltage and greatly increased safety. In this way, lithium-based batteries managed to have a higher capacity than the lead-acid and nickel-cadmium-based batteries used in the cars of the period. Dr. Akira Yoshino, on the other hand, replaced the pure lithium used in this technology with safer lithium ions, leading to the birth of lithium-ion batteries.