Trio wins Nobel Chemistry Prize for developing lithium-ion battery

Stockholm, October 9

Scientists John Goodenough, Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino won the 2019 Nobel Prize for Chemistry on Wednesday for the development of lithium-ion batteries, an important technology in enabling the world to move away from fossil fuels.

American Goodenough, at 97, becomes the oldest winner of a Nobel prize. He shared the award equally with Whittingham from Britain and Yoshino of Japan.

"This rechargeable battery laid the foundation of wireless electronics such as mobile phones and laptops," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement on awarding the 9 million Swedish crown ($906,000) prize.

"It also makes a fossil fuel-free world possible, as it is used for everything from powering electric cars to storing energy from renewable sources."

Whittingham developed the first functional lithium battery in the early 1970s. Goodenough doubled the battery's potential in the following decade and Yoshino eliminated pure lithium from the battery, making it much safer to use.

The prizes for achievements in science, literature and peace were created and funded in the will of Swedish dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel and have been awarded since 1901.

The Nobel prizes for medicine and physics were awarded earlier this week. The awards for literature, peace and economics will be announced in the next few days. --Reuters 

The 2019 #NobelPrize in Chemistry has been awarded to John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino “for the development of lithium-ion batteries.” pic.twitter.com/LUKTeFhUbg

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 9, 2019

“Curiosity was the main driving force for me.”

- newly awarded Chemistry Laureate Akira Yoshino speaking at today’s press conference announcing his #NobelPrize. Congratulations! pic.twitter.com/VLlVC4VAmL

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 9, 2019

Watch the very moment the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is announced.

Presented by Göran K. Hansson, Secretary General of The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.#NobelPrize pic.twitter.com/PM8X2S3Zy4

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 9, 2019

In the early 1970s, Stanley Whittingham, awarded this year’s Chemistry Prize, used lithium’s enormous drive to release its outer electron when he developed the first functional lithium battery.#NobelPrize pic.twitter.com/lRD2zBNm4T

— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 9, 2019