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Oliver Gull
Introduction
The Nobel Laureate (Nobel Prize Winner) John B. Goodenough along with other scientist, invented the revolutionary Lithium-ion battery. It was key in evolving the world’s energy resources, as the battery contains the ability to regain charge, therefore making the lithium-ion battery sustainable and reusable. This battery paved the way to bring out the devices that we utilise today, mainly phones and laptops. The invention and the Nobel prize were merely the last stepping stone of Goodenough’s achievements as he helped pave the future that we have today. This biography will delve deep into his life and remarkable research of John B. Goodenough.
Upbringing
Born in Germany, from American parents on July 25th, 1922, John lived in America. John comes from an academic family as John’s father was an Oxford University graduate (Wikipedia contributors, 2024). John would take upon this academic trait as well, becoming very successful in the future as a scientist. However, young John had struggled with dyslexia, a condition that affects reading or writing skills. Dyslexia at the time was a mystery to the medical arsenal in the 1920s, meaning there were no treatment options for John. Therefore, John had a difficult time throughout his duration at the Groton School having been considered a “Backwards Student”. John B Goodenough, however, proved people wrong, teaching himself simple steps such as learning to write (Wikipedia contributors, 2024). Not long after, John had risen to the top of his class, overcoming the odds. After his time in Groton, he transferred around a few different schools. He then graduated from Yale, receiving his degree in Mathematics from there. In 1943, around the time he had graduated from Yale, John B. Goodenough was enrolled to aid the USA during WW2 as a meteorologist. He served his time for 2 years. Once WW2 ended, John had decided to enrol at the University of Chicago, to get his masters and Ph.D in Physics. That is where he met his future wife, Irene Wiseman, who had gone to U of Chicago for History. They got married when Goodenough was 29 and he graduated one year later. It was around this time, John's research and inventions would come to fruition.
John's Career
After getting his Master's and his PhD, he worked at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory for 24 years. On Goodenough’s first massive project, he led a team in researching and developing MRAM, Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory. What makes this different from the typical RAM, Random Access Memory, is that this type of memory access is non-volatile, which enables computers to store data even when turned off, as opposed to RAM which is volatile - this was transformative in technological advancement. For us, at BISB, allows us to go to greater lengths when taking digital notes or using electronics for learning. Goodenough, not only as a leader, independently worked on its magnetic properties and the metal-insulator's transition behaviour in relation to transition-metal oxides (Wikipedia contributors, 2024). For context, a metal-insulator transition is the process in which a metal changes into an insulator. For John, this meant exploring how turning metal oxides into insulators would differ from normal metal-insulator transition. His constant efforts and findings from his MRAM project were not only notable but aided his research for the well-known Goodenough-Kanamori Rules.
The major rules that are included in the Goodenough-Kanamori rules are based off four basis pillars in order to explain and explore how the magnetic behaviour of certain materials are influenced by electron interactions determines whether or not the material is magnetic or not (Goodenough, 2008). After working 24 years at MIT Lincoln, Goodenough decided to work at the University of Oxford to continue researching around 1976. He decided to move as the US government had discontinued funding his team's research.
He stayed at Oxford for a decade, becoming the Head of the Inorganic Chemistry Department (Professor John Goodenough Wins 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry For, 2019). He, along with other researchers, started development the iconic Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery. As stated earlier, the lithium-ion battery has the ability to recharge itself, as the lithium-ions transport throughout the battery. Normally, batteries were known to be a one-and-done type of power for devices and running machines. So, the invention of the Lithium-ion battery allowed people to save money and time. John B. Goodenough's other developments involved many collaborators, including Koichi Mizushima, Philip C. Jones, and Philip J. Wiseman(Professor John Goodenough Wins 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry For, 2019). In 1980, the battery had undergone improvements, such as expanding its capacity by double the amount. Much like the Kanamori-Goodenough Rules, this invention was one of his finest throughout the years. However, it took some time for Lithium-ion battery to globalise, as his patent was initially denied due to insufficient funds.
As a result, Goodenough went looking for someone to pay for the patent. He struggled to find someone to write up this patent because he'd have zero royalty on his invention. The license was eventually given to Sony Corporations as they had promised to pay John royalties, as well as, the other collaborators (Wikipedia contributors, 2024). Akira Yoshino, a person working for Sony, improved the design to maximise efficiency and easier manufacturing. John B. Goodenough eventually went on to be awarded a Japan Prize in 2011 and a Nobel Prize in 2019.
In 1986, John decided to work at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin). There, he contributed to the topic of advanced electrical engineering. Goodenough's hardwork was recognised by the President of UT, in which he states “Billions of people in the world benefit every day from John’s innovations.” Through this, we can understand the relevance of John's work then and now.proving how relevant he is in the past and present.
Even when John had reached the age of 64, in 1986, he still attempted to push the boundaries of the world of batteries, through refining rechargeable ones as well as inventing new ones. Though it's important to note that his achievements during this time may not have been as 'outstanding' as the lithium-ion battery, it's important not to disregard John's activeness in the field of electrical advancements.
Goodenough worked at UT Austin for 36 years. His wife, Irene Wiseman died in 2016 yet John continued to work on expanding battery technology.
In 2017, he worked on curating a glass battery. The glass is made by combining lithium-hydroxide and lithium-chloride, and a little bit of barium. It shares similar qualities with the rechargeable battery, but doesn't produce toxic metals (Glass Battery - a Peculiar Development in Our Understanding of Physics or the Key to the Next Energy RevoluLon?, n.d.). The glass battery was one of Goodenough's last inventions.
In 2019, John B. Goodenough and his colleagues had been awardeed with a Nobel Prize, going on to become a Nobel Laureate.
Conclusion
On June 25, 2023, Goodenough had died at the age of 100, one month short of his 101st birthday. Goodenough was a monumental character in the ever-changing state of electricity and batteries. Fighting for the USA in World War 2, working across reputable international universities for the majority of his life. John’s work and passion will never be forgotten for the numerous inventions he made that paved the present and the future.
References
Wikipedia contributors. (2024, September 13). John B. Goodenough. Wikipedia. hDps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_B._Goodenough
Life expectancy in the USA, 1900-98.(n.d.). hDps://u.demog.berkeley.edu/~andrew/1918/figure2.html
Professor John Goodenough wins 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for. (2019, October 9). hDps://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2019-10-09-professor-john-goodenough-wins-2019- nobel-prize-chemistry-lithium-ion-baDery
Glass Battery - a Peculiar Development in Our Understanding of Physics or the Key to he Next Energy RevoluLon?, n.d.
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