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Interviews: Ask Lithium-Ion Battery Inventor John Goodenough a Question

Posted by BeauHD on from the pick-one's-brain dept.

John B. Goodenough is a solid-state physicist and professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at The University of Texas at Austin. While he is most famous for identifying and developing the lithium-ion battery, which can be found in just about every portable electronic device on the market, he has recently created a new fast charging solid-state battery that looks to revolutionize the industry. We sent him an email about doing an interview and he has responded. Now is your chance to ask Goodenough a question!

We'll pick the very best questions and forward them to John Goodenough himself. (Feel free to leave your suggestions for who Slashdot should interview next.) Go on, don't be shy!

2 of 145 comments (clear)

  1. What are the downsides to your Sodium Batteries by tempest69 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I am very excited about sodium batteries.
    As sodium is a much more environmentally friendly element to produce at large scale (my conjecture, I didn't look it up).

    What were the roadblocks of using sodium in previous batteries?
    I suspect whisker growth, but am not familiar with batteries enough to know other possibilities.

    With the glass version, what are the big drawbacks to using sodium instead of lithium (if any)?


    Thank you for your kind reply in advance!!

  2. Re:Limit of Energy Density by Eloking · · Score: 3, Insightful

    John,

    Is it (theoretically) possible for a battery to reach the same energy density as fossil fuel? Gasoline has an energy density of 46MJ/kg while a lithium based battery has an energy density of around 1MJ/kg.

    This would mean that an electric car, boat or airplane would have the same potential range as their oil powered brethren.

    How come this is modded up? This is so deeply flawed.

    Gasoline engine are terribly inefficient (30-45%) compared to the electric (90-98%), meaning that you need far less energy density to reach the same range for it's weight. And let's not forget the braking. As for airplane, there's no electric equivalent to jet engine.

    Energy density is a factor, but not the only one. Price, Safety, speed of charge, number of cycle are all important to consider too.

    --
    Elok