Do you remember John Goodenough? He is the fellow who invented lithium-ion batteries around twenty years ago. His invention enabled portable internet devices, and trips to Mars among many other amazing things. Most of us might be thinking of ‘pushing up daisies’ at age ninety-five. However, the doughty battery father has announced another lithium battery breakthrough. Knowing John, this might be true.
Unwrapping John Goodenough’s Battery Breakthrough
We have the Journal of the American Chemical Society to thank for what follows. The information is in a report co-author Maria Helena Braga and two other researchers published. Perhaps John was preoccupied with his next battery breakthrough at the time.
The new battery is a solid state design. There is no liquid in the lithium device that might otherwise catch fire in a thermal runaway. It contains no cobalt either. This fends off strategic challenges from China that dominates this mineral market. Moreover, the researchers claim the battery can charge and discharge 23,000 times. What an opportunity for the electric car industry.
Rewinding Back to April 2016 …
But There Are Sceptics – There Always Are
Critics are challenging how a battery could possibly achieve so many recycles, given our knowledge of the materials. They cannot accept a battery breakthrough that appears to grow in capacity as it ages, as opposed to declining.
The Journal Axios quotes one scientist as follows. ‘”The way to think about it is that you have a car that can travel 200 miles, and after five years it can go 800 miles.” Co-author Maria Braga responds, “There are a lot of interests. But time will be on our side.”
Then she adds, “Data is data. The LEDs are lit for days with a very small amount of active material, after they have cycled more than 23,000 times.”
Related
Goodenough’s All-Solid-State-Battery Cells
Tesla Cuts Back Significantly on Demand for Cobalt
Preview Image: John Goodenough Explains Lithium Technology
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