The lithium pioneers
Katrina Krämer traces the full story of how lithium-ion batteries won the 2019 Nobel prize
Having access to cheap, safe and powerful batteries has impacted society profoundly. Today, over 5 billion people – 66% of the world’s population – own mobile devices. And batteries are also starting to transform the transport sector. Over time, increasingly powerful batteries charged by sustainable electricity might help wean humanity off their transport-driven addiction to fossil fuels. For their work kick starting the mobile revolution, John Goodenough from the University of Texas at Austin, US, Stanley Whittingham from Binghamton University, US, and Akira Yoshino at the chemical company Asahi Kasei and Meijo University, Japan, are now sharing the 2019 chemistry Nobel prize.