Ep. 22: I didn’t know they were going to be worth billions—A conversation with John Goodenough
Without fail, the name John Goodenough crops up during Nobel Prize season. Many scientists believe he’s deserving of chemistry’s top honor. The University of Texas at Austin materials scientist is credited with developing a material that led to mass commercialization of lithium-ion batteries, the technology that powers our smartphones, laptops, electric vehicles, and other gadgets big and small. Though Goodenough, aged 97, hasn’t yet won a Nobel Prize, he’s not mired down by what could have been. He is renowned for his scientific accomplishments, warm personality, and infectious laugh. In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, C&EN reporter Mitch Jacoby joins cohost Kerri Jansen to tell the story of how a former meteorologist with a background in physics came up with a key material that enabled an electronics revolution and how he continues to pursue big questions in electrochemistry today.
Register for C&EN’s Nobel Prize predictions webinar at bit.ly/nobelwebinar19.
UPDATE: We're happy to announce that Goodenough, along with fellow battery pioneers M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino, has won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Read our coverage of the award and these scientists' contributions to lithium-ion batteries at C&EN.
CORRECTION 10/23/19: The material Akira Yoshino used for his seminal battery anode was petroleum coke, a graphite-like material derived from petroleum. Researchers, including Samar Basu, had previously worked with graphite but found that it broke down in the battery’s electrolyte. Also, estimates for the voltage of Stan Whittingham’s TiS2 battery vary. This podcast episode refers to a 2.4-volt battery; some sources estimate the voltage at 2.5 V.
A script of this podcast is available here.
"Shir Hama’alos” is by Even Sh’siyah, provided courtesy of Mitch Jacoby.
“Plain Loafer” by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under CC BY 3.0.
Image credit: Mitch Jacoby/C&EN