When we think about inventions we think about young minds, young talents, entrepreneurs etc. The most common names that come to our minds are Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, bill gates etc. They all achieved success at a very young age. But that’s not all, there are also certain people who even after being so old are still inventing revolutionary things.
Here we talk about John B. Goodenough, he is 94 years old and he is an emeritus professor at the Cockrell school of engineering at the University of Texas, Austin
He is the inventor of a lithium-ion battery which is now the industry standard and used in all the smartphones and other devices.
We might be satisfied with the lithium-ion battery but good enough has another thing for us and that’s the ultra-efficient glass battery which will be revolutionary in the battery world. John B. Goodenough is one inventor proving age means nothing when it comes to churning out history changing concepts.
He along with his senior research fellow Maria Helena Braga is leading a team of researchers who are working on a new, solid state battery which is cheaper and can store power up to three times of what today’s battery provides.
Characteristics of the new ultra-efficient battery.
- It consists of sodium or lithium coated glass electrolyte, thus can store three times the power stored by the lithium-ion battery.
- It charges faster, i.e it will only take a few minutes instead of hours.
- It can survive in adverse temperature conditions ranging from -20° to 60° Centigrade
- It is capable of at least 1200 charge-discharge cycles. Which is far more than the lithium-ion battery
- The dendrites that cause to plague lithium-ion battery will not be formed by the glass-based electrolyte.
The dendrites accumulate as a result of the charging and recharging cycles of the lithium-ion battery and it is harmful to the battery, as it burns or smolders the battery.
How important is this new battery
Goodenough himself believes that this battery will be revolutionary and change the course of history. “we believe our discovery solves many of the problems that are Inherent in today’s batteries” Goodenough himself said this words. So keeping in mind we here discuss what revolutionary event that can happen with the discovery of this battery.
As this battery can store power as much as three times the present battery. Therefore this battery will be of great help to Tesla i.e it will be a great step towards electrification of cars and production of high power electric cars.
Goodenough’s team has only created the glass-based anode once they start producing some large scale cells. It will, of course, be revolutionary.
Phones, laptops, desktops, PlayStation, solar cells etc. are only just small things it will totally change the people’s view on electric cars if it gives enough power to an electric car because today’s technology at most of the time is held back by lack of battery capabilities.
Goodenough had tasted a lot of success but yet he doesn’t fill full yet, recognizing the energy crisis the world has, he estimates that his team has only 30 years to come up with a “super battery” before the world starts to degrade and have resource crisis.
Goodenough created the lithium-ion battery i.e the lithium-cobalt-oxide cathode which solved the problems faced by Whittingham battery had. He went commercial in 1991 with Sony.
Conclusion
It is not yet clear that if Goodenough’s battery will come to life or not but if it comes it will, of course, be of great help in today’s world of power and energy crisis. With the massive amount of energy we consume every day, the lithium-ion battery is no more the best battery.
And if Goodenough’s battery comes in action it will enhance more technological innovations which are now restricted due to lack of battery capabilities.
For instance, Tesla will be a great benefit and will be able to produce its electric cars and change the impression of electric cars as said by them.
