As a recent recipient of the prestigious Enrico Fermi award from the U.S. Department of Energy, Dr. John Goodenough was recognized by the Houston Chronicle as an “unsung contemporary hero of science.” Goodenough is a professor of mechanical engineering and electrical engineering at The University of Texas at Austin and lately his focus has been on the potential of a perskovite ceramic to serve as an effective electrode in fuel cells powered by natural gas.
Motivated by the 1970s energy crisis, Goodenough grew adventurous enough to work outside the thinking of his scientific contemporaries, and with unassuming genius, magnified energy storage in miniature batteries that remains unrivaled decades later. The battery cathode material he created midway through his career in the late 1970s provided enough voltage within a tiny package to make possible today’s cell phones, laptops and other portable tools.
His creative chemistry proved to be inexpensive, environmentally friendly, safe, sustainable and capable of thousands of charge cycles with a constant output voltage without a loss of capacity.
“Our mobile world of communications, computing, entertainment, and increasingly transportation, has been enabled by Goodenough’s fundamental scientific discoveries and technological innovations in energy storage,” said Dr. Gregory Fenves, Cockrell School of Engineering dean.
Batteries incorporating his cathode materials are used worldwide for cell phones and other portable wireless devices, power tools, hybrid automobiles and small all-electric vehicles. In addition, they are increasingly used in electrical energy storage for alternative energy, such as wind and solar power. As this technology continues to develop, it can be expected to have an enormous impact on the U.S. economy and the environment by helping to reduce carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions.
To read the Houston Chronicle interview with Goodenough, visit http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/2009/10/if_you_love_your_iphone_or_blackberry_thank_this_t.html
