Lithium-Ion Battery Pioneer Turns Focus to Solid State Devices

The co-inventor of the lithium-ion battery, 94-year-old John Goodenough, is developing a new solid-state technology he claims is safer and can generate three times the energy density of current lithium devices.

Goodenough and his fellow researchers from the University of Texas at Austin outlined the technology in Energy & Environmental Science.

The solid-state batteries feature a glass electrolyte in place of liquid ones used in lithium-ion cells. The high conductivity of the glass design allows the batteries to operate more efficiently over a broader temperature range (as low as -76°F), according to the researchers.

The solid-state cells can be made from sodium or lithium. Sodium is widely available and can be extracted from seawater, Goodenough notes.

In addition, the glass electrolyte enables the use of an alkali-metal-anode. This would allow for faster recharging than lithium-ion cells without the danger of forming dendrites that can spark short circuits and fires, according to the researchers.

Goodenough says solid state systems can solve many of the problems inherent in today’s batteries. He notes that improvements in cost, safety, energy density, rates of charge and discharge and cycle life are critical for the success of electrified vehicles.

The researchers are pursuing several patents related to the solid state chemistry and plan to work with battery companies to further develop the technology. The University of Texas team collaborated on the project with researchers at Portugal’s University of Porto.

Goodenough started his career in 1952 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory, where he helped pioneer random-access memory for computers. In the 1970s he began working on battery storage systems and was part of the team credited with developing lithium-ion systems in 1980.

In 2011 Goodenough was awarded the U.S. National Medal of Science for his contributions to materials science and technology. He and his team later received the prestigious Draper Prize for creating a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that enables compact, lightweight mobile devices.