Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2019: Lithium-ion batteries

2019年诺贝尔化学奖：锂电池

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2019 to John B. Goodenough, of The University of Texas at Austin, USA, M. Stanley Whittingham, of Binghamton University, State University of New York, USA, and Akira Yoshino of Asahi Kasei Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, and Meijo University, Nagoya, Japan "for the development of lithium-ion batteries."

瑞典皇家科学院决定将2019年诺贝尔化学奖颁发给“创造出锂电池”的美国奥斯汀德克萨斯大学的John B. Goodenough，美国纽约州立大学宾汉姆顿分校的M. Stanley Whittingham和日东京旭化成株式会社兼日本名古屋名城大学的Akira Yoshino。

They created a rechargeable world

他们创造了可充电的世界

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2019 rewards the development of the lithium-ion battery. This lightweight, rechargeable and powerful battery is now used in everything from mobile phones to laptops and electric vehicles. It can also store significant amounts of energy from solar and wind power, making possible a fossil fuel-free society.

2019诺贝尔化学奖将奖项颁给了锂电池。这种轻质、可再次充电且电量强劲的电池现在用于从手机、笔记本电脑到电动汽车等需要用电的一切领域。此外，锂电子还可以存储来自于太阳能和风能的大量电能，并让不再依靠矿物燃料成为可能。

Lithium-ion batteries are used globally to power the portable electronics that we use to communicate, work, study, listen to music and search for knowledge. Lithiumion batteries have also enabled the development of long-range electric cars and the storage of energy from renewable sources, such as solar and wind power.

锂电池在全球用于为便携式电子产品提供电能。我们利用这些便携式电子产品沟通、工作、学习、听音乐以及搜索信息。锂电池还有助于推出远距离电动汽车以及存储来自于可再生能源，比如太阳能和风能的电能。

The foundation of the lithium-ion battery was laid during the oil crisis in the 1970s. Stanley Whittingham worked on developing methods that could lead to fossil fuel-free energy technologies. He started to research superconductors and discovered an extremely energy-rich material, which he used to create an innovative cathode in a lithium battery. This was made from titanium disulphide which, at a molecular level, has spaces that can house -- intercalate -- lithium ions.

锂电池出现于20世纪70年代的石油危机。Stanley Whittingham致力于找到无需利用矿物燃料获取能源的技术。他开始研究超导体并发现一种蕴含极其丰富能量的材料。这种材料被他用来在锂电池中创造一种创新型的阴极。这种材料的生产原料是二硫化钛。二硫化钛在分子状态下拥有可以存放嵌入物-锂离子的空间。

The battery's anode was partially made from metallic lithium, which has a strong drive to release electrons. This resulted in a battery that literally had great potential, just over two volts. However, metallic lithium is reactive and the battery was too explosive to be viable.

电池的阳极部分用金属锂制成。金属锂具有强烈的电子释放冲动。这就使电池实际上拥有刚刚超过2伏的巨大电能。然而，由于金属锂易于反应，因此电池也因为太容易爆炸而无法投入使用。

John Goodenough predicted that the cathode would have even greater potential if it was made using a metal oxide instead of a metal sulphide. After a systematic search, in 1980 he demonstrated that cobalt oxide with intercalated lithium ions can produce as much as four volts. This was an important breakthrough and would lead to much more powerful batteries.

Johon Goodenough预测到，如果阴极用金属氧化物而非金属硫化物制作，那么它将拥有更大的能量。在经过系统的搜寻后，1980年，他通过展示证实，带有嵌入式锂离子的氧化钴最多可以产生4伏的电能。这项重要突破可能带来更加具有能量的电池。

With Goodenough's cathode as a basis, Akira Yoshino created the first commercially viable lithium-ion battery in 1985. Rather than using reactive lithium in the anode, he used petroleum coke, a carbon material that, like the cathode's cobalt oxide, can intercalate lithium ions.

以Goodenough的阴极为基础，Akira Yoshino 在1985年创造出首个可以用于商业用途的锂电池。Akira Yoshino 并未在阳极中使用反应过于活跃的锂，相反，他选择使用石油焦油，一种类似于阴极氧化钴的可以嵌入锂离子的碳材料。

The result was a lightweight, hardwearing battery that could be charged hundreds of times before its performance deteriorated. The advantage of lithium-ion batteries is that they are not based upon chemical reactions that break down the electrodes, but upon lithium ions flowing back and forth between the anode and cathode.

这一选择创造了轻质坚固且可以反复充电数百次的电池。锂电池的优势在于它不靠化学反应而是依靠在阴极和阳极之间来回流动的锂离子来分解电极。

Lithium-ion batteries have revolutionised our lives since they first entered the market in 1991. They have laid the foundation of a wireless, fossil fuel-free society, and are of the greatest benefit to humankind.

自1991年首次推向市场以来，锂电池使我们的生活发生了翻天覆地的变化。它们奠定了一个无线且不再使用矿物燃料的世界并在最大程度造福了我们人类。

文章来源：科学日报   编辑：SUSANA