The story of the Nobel Prize winner for lithium ion battery chemistry!
A metal that releases hydrogen by reacting strongly with water as soon as it is placed in water. There will be the necessary heat. Hydrogen is released, which can cause fires and explosions. That is lithium.
Lithium metal is usually stored in kerosene or oil. This is to keep it from colliding with oxygen. It is also a metal that can be easily cut with a knife.
The cut will shine like fine silver. If left in the air for a while, it will turn gray.
Thus hold the lithium, which is tactile and quick-tempered, and make the battery.
That too with a battery that can be recharged many times! A battery that changed the lives of human beings! The 2019 Nobel Prize was awarded to three people for such an adventure.
John B. Goodenough (John B. Goodenough), M. Stanley Whittingham (M. Stanley Whittingham), and Akira Yoshino (Akira Yoshino) for taming lithium into batteries.
John Goodinoff was the founder of the lithium battery. An unsafe prototype of a lithium battery. Later Stanley improved it a bit. Akira has modified it in a way that makes it safer to market.
The story of the element lithium dates back to 14 billion years ago. In the Big Bang, which is considered the beginning of the universe.
The lithium element was formed within the first minute of the Big Bang. Element formed after hydrogen and helium! But it was not until 1817 that humans discovered this friend.
Lithium has a total of three electrons. Lithium does not like the third electron. Lithium will always say to that electron, 'You're going down somewhere.' The electron is also present.
This party will vacate the space as soon as it gets a small chance! The lithium that drives away the electron is the lithium ion. That lithium ion is our heroine!
The story begins in the middle of the twentieth century. The number of cars and vehicles running on petrol and diesel has increased significantly.
Pollution from their smoke became a problem.
Carbon dioxide and other substances slowly began to raise the Earth's temperature.
The search for a solution goes back more than a century, to the electric vehicles that hit the road before the spread of petroleum.
Slowly, companies began to try to bring back the technology of electric vehicles.
Electric vehicles need a better battery if they are to be efficient. Battery that can store more power.
The battery for an electric vehicle should be light in size, small in size and capable of carrying more power.
The lead acid battery currently in use, however, does not fully meet this requirement. That's when people started searching for a new technology.
Fearing that petroleum would now run out of oil, oil companies also began researching electric vehicles. Exxon, an oil giant, is willing to set aside some money for such research.
One of the researchers was Stanley Whittingham of Stanford University.
Stanley's search was for an object with high energy density. There is a substance called tantalum disulfide. It has the ability to store ions inside itself.
Tantalum disulfide is a substance that came to Stanley's attention when he previously researched superconducting materials.
He found that potassium ions affect the electrical conductivity of tantalum disulfide.
Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that tantalum disulfide is a material capable of delivering high energy concentrations. The battery also produces voltages above two volts.
But one problem still remained. Tantalum is a slightly heavier material, although it has a higher energy density.
The battery weighs more than expected. If so, the intended result will not be obtained. That’s how Stanley does a formula. Use titanium instead of tantalum! Good quality and less weight!
Lithium is then added to it. Lithium's ability to release electrons is what made Stanley think that way. Lithium is also the lightest metal.
So Stanley decided to use lithium ions in his experiment. That's where the story of the lithium ion battery begins.
The beginning of a high-energy battery technology that operates at normal temperatures! With this discovery, Stanley Exxon approached the company officials. This was presented at their meeting. The decision of that oil company was quick. Stanley go ahead with the research. Realize a great battery as soon as possible!
But things were not as easy for Stanley as he had hoped. I noticed a problem with the lithium battery when I tried it several times. It explodes. Works with lithium electrolyte.
This causes the lithium to accumulate from the lithium electrodes and collide with the adjacent electrode. There is no escape after a collision.
The battery will explode as a short circuit! Several explosions and fires continued. The company spent a large sum of money just to put out the laboratory fire.
The experiment, in which a layer of aluminum was combined between a lithium electrode and an electrolyte, gave some hope. Finally, in 1976, the first small lithium battery was released. These were used in solar powered clocks.
This system can only be converted to a type that can be used by electric vehicles only if it is mass-produced. But another problem awaited them.
What is to come will not stay in the way. Large deposits of petroleum have been found in many parts of the world. As a result, oil prices fell. The company lost interest in investing in electric vehicles!
With Stanley unable to continue his research!