Legendary Li-ion battery boffin John Goodenough to develop gel power packs with South Korea’s SK Innovation • The Register

South Korean battery-maker SK Development will coordinate with 2019 Nobel Prize-winner John Goodenough to develop a brand-new solid-state gel battery.

Goodenough is best referred to as part of the team of researchers that invented the rechargable lithium-ion battery throughout the 70s and 80s. The group, which also consisted of British-American chemist M Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino of Japan, were awarded in 2015’s Nobel Reward in chemistry for their work.

SK Innovation reckons that the brand-new battery, which will use a solid-state gel-polymer electrolyte, will be safer and shop more energy than lithium-ion batteries.

One issue with li-ion batteries is that they produce dendrites, small metal whiskers that grow on the anodes of lithium-ion batteries. These can go through the liquid electrolyte and reduce the life of the battery, or, sometimes, cause short-circuits that result in fires.

Li-ion batteries also have lower energy density compared to solid-state services. This could have a huge impact when it concerns EVs, which require energy-dense batteries to extend their driving variety, in addition to how long phone batteries last.

Goodenough’s brand-new battery will not produce dendrites, which should put out future fires. It will also be more energy thick, in addition to smaller sized and lighter, suiting it to utilize in electrical lorries.

“The objective is to establish a microporous polymer matrix with weakly-coordinating-anion system that can be used to larger, more effective cells,” SK Development stated in a declaration.

Goodenough, who simply turned 98, is likewise establishing a glass battery that he claims grows in storage capacity in time. Hydro-Quebec, Canada’s largest electrical power manufacturer, wishes to commercialise the tech within 2 years.

SK Innovation is the R&D arm of South Korea’s SK Group, which also owns memory-maker SK Hynix.