New, low-cost batteries designed to last for a million miles of use in electric vehicles? Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk says the public can expect just that from the Model 3 sedan, expected to debut in China late this year or early next. 

According to Reuters, the new “million mile” battery—which relies on low-cobalt and cobalt-free battery chemistries, among others—was jointly developed with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL). Reuter’s sources say CATL plan on supplying Tesla with an improved long-life nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) battery whose cathode is 50% nickel and only 20% cobalt sometime next year. (more…)

“Good enough” are just words in his last name, but not ones John B. Goodenough seems to live by. The 97-year-old, widely referred to as the “father of the lithium-ion batteries,” continues to awe the battery field. According to IEEE Spectrum, the 2019 Nobel Prize winner recently co-developed a rapid-charging, non-flammable, glass battery.

The high capacity battery charges in “minutes rather than hours,” according to Maria Helena Braga, professor of engineering at the University of Porto in Portugal, who worked with Goodenough to develop the solid state lithium rechargeable which uses a glass doped with alkali metals as the battery’s electrolyte. In addition, the solid state electrolyte is not flammable and preforms in both cold and hot weather. (more…)

The Electrochemical Society honors 2019 Nobel Chemistry Prize laureates, John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham, and Akira Yoshino, by the launch of a new collection highlighting their scientific contributions published by ECS. In addition, ECS recognizes their contributions in the winter 2019 issue of Interface, now available online.

Goodenough, Whittingham, and Yoshino have been deeply involved with The Electrochemical Society—as members, authors, editors, fellows, meeting participants and organizers, awardees, and more. Their publications with ECS, to varying degrees, trace the history of the development of the Lithium-ion battery, the revolutionary invention for which they shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. (more…)

John Goodenough, Stanley Whittingham, and Akira Yoshino, co-winners of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, delivered their Nobel Lectures at The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden, on December 8. The 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry recognized the three scientists’ seminal contributions in the development of the Lithium-ion battery. Goodenough, Whittingham, and Yoshino are longtime members of The Electrochemical Society (ECS); Goodenough and Whittingham are ECS Fellows.

The Nobel Foundation statutes require the Laureates to give lectures on a subject connected with the work for which the prize has been awarded.

John Goodenough had his pre-taped lecture delivered by Arumugam Manthiram on the topic of Designing Lithium-ion Cathodes.

Stanley Whittingham discussed The Origins of the Lithium Battery.

Akira Yoshino presented a Brief History and Future of Lithium-ion Batteries. (more…)

John B. Goodenough © Nobel Media. Photo: Alexander Mahmoud

As John B. Goodenough looked on, his Nobel Lecture was delivered by Arumugam Manthiram at the Aula Magna, Stockholm University, on December 8, 2019. Both Goodenough and Manthiram are fellows of The Electrochemical Society (ECS).

Nobel Laureates are required to give a lecture on a subject connected with the work for which they receive the award. Goodenough videotaped his lecture, “Designing Lithium-ion Battery Cathodes,” before December 8, then invited Manthiram to present it in Stockholm. Manthiram added explanations and comments between Goodenough’s slides and video, concluding with a summary of Goodenough’s research and its historical significance. The three classes of materials Goodenough discovered—layered oxide, spinel oxide, and polyanion oxide—still remain the only viable cathodes and the basis for future development. Goodenough pushed the boundaries of sold-state chemistry and physics. “His trump card is using chemistry and physics to solve engineering problems,” said Manthiram on another occasion. (more…)

Mahsa Ebrahiminia (Photo by Gleb Yushin)

ECS is pleased to announce the winners of symposia-funded best presentation awards from the 236th ECS Meeting in Atlanta. Through the generous funding of individual symposium sponsors, several awards of this type are presented at every ECS meeting. You are invited to celebrate the excellent work of these authors:

A05 – Lithium Ion Batteries – Best Poster Award Winners

Thank you to Livent, Arbin Instruments, and Gamry Instruments, Inc. for their generous sponsorship of this symposium.

Mahsa Ebrahiminia, University of Utah: “Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study of Ion Transport, Structural and Mechanical Properties of Li₂CO₃ and Mn-Li-CO₃” (more…)

Submission Deadline EXTENDED: February 12, 2020 March 15, 2020

Submit your manuscripts to the Journal of The Electrochemical Society‘s Focus Issue on Battery Safety, Reliability, and Mitigation.

About the focus issue

This Journal of The Electrochemical Society focus issue addresses the fundamental risks and issues associated with battery safety and reliability. Industry challenges with fielding safe and reliable batteries are increasing as new cell designs are introduced into advanced energy storage applications requiring higher specific energies, fast charging, and lower cost alternatives. As such, improvements in cell and battery safety design without compromising performance continues to be a major focus for researchers, manufacturers and users across all sectors of the energy storage marketplace. Better understanding of battery failure mechanisms will further enable regulatory agency approval and public acceptance of early deployment of advanced battery energy storage systems for high reliability applications. (more…)

In “The Lightsaber Battery,” author Richard Rogers asks if recent electric vehicle battery research makes a lightsaber battery possible. After reviewing Star Wars technology and the current state of battery technology, his conclusion is a conditional yes! However, the final stage of light saber development depends on a Kyber crystal which amplifies and channels the cosmic energy of the Force. Unfortunately, a crystal like that hasn’t been discovered in our universe yet.

Star Wars fans and electric battery developers do not despair! The need for longer-lasting electric vehicle batteries has raised cycle life goals similar to the lightsaber’s requirements—and electrochemists are rising to the challenge! That galaxy “far, far away” is coming closer and closer. (more…)

ECS’s Detroit Section is proud to present guest speaker Fabio Albano at its October 10 section meeting. He will speak on:

“Best of Both Worlds: A Marriage of Two Battery Technologies”

Fabio Albano
Vice President of Technology
NantEnergy, Inc. (formerly Fluidic Energy)
Scottsdale, Arizona, USA

When:
Thursday, 10 October, 2019

Schedule:
17:30h | Reception
18:30h | Dinner
19:30h | Speaker (more…)

Deadline for submitting abstracts
December 2, 2019
Submit today!

Topic Close-up #4

Symposium A04: Battery Student Slam 4

Symposium focus: This special symposium is dedicated to students working on energy storage and energy conversion. In the student slam, students have the opportunity to present flash oral presentations on their work in a 10-minute time slot. All students enrolled at a valid degree-granting institution may submit an abstract describing their presentation. (more…)