John B. Goodenough: The credit for the smartphone that we are running all the time today goes to John B. Goodenough because John discovered the Lithium-ion battery. For this he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2019. Due to John, today we are able to use lithium-ion batteries in smartphones, cars, laptops, tablets etc.
In 1980, John B. Goodenough, while working at the University of Oxford, made a major breakthrough by developing a battery with a lithium-cobalt-oxide cathode. He improved upon the design of the battery developed by Dr. Whittingham, a British chemist who worked for Exxon. John’s invention allowed lithium-ion batteries to have higher energy capacity and greater safety. Because of them today these batteries are being used everywhere.
Never took royalty for invention
John B. Goodenough brought a new revolution in technology by developing a lithium-cobalt-oxide cathode battery. Although he never asked for any royalty for this and signed away most of his rights. Initially, Oxford refused to patent it due to little interest in the battery, after which Dr. Goodenough signed the papers of the British Atomic Energy Research Organization. After some time, scientists in Japan and Switzerland recognized the potential of lithium-ion batteries and tried to improve its performance. During the experiment, scientists found that by applying a layer of lithium with graphitic carbon, the anode of the battery is improving significantly and this is increasing its efficiency and safety.
In 1991 Sony produced the world’s first safe rechargeable lithium-ion battery by combining Dr. Goodenough’s cathode and carbon anode.
Apart from John, these 2 people also got the prize
Let me tell you, Goodenough received the Nobel Prize at the age of 97, he became the oldest Nobel Prize winner in history. Apart from John, the award was also given to M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino who played an important role in advancing the battery.