致敬三位诺奖得主，赋予我们一个可充电的世界

2019年诺贝尔化学奖颁给锂电池

致敬三位诺奖得主，赋予我们一个可充电的世界

瑞典皇家科学院9日宣布，将2019年诺贝尔化学奖授予来自美国的科学家约翰·古迪纳夫、斯坦利·惠廷厄姆和日本科学家吉野彰，以表彰他们在锂离子电池研发领域作出的贡献。

Creating a rechargeable world has earned three scientists the 2019 Nobel Prize in chemistry.

创造出了一个可充电的世界使得三位科学家获得了2019年诺贝尔化学奖。

John B. Goodenough of the University of Texas at Austin, M. Stanley Whittingham of Binghamton University in New York and Akira Yoshino of the Asahi Kasei Corporation in Tokyo and Meijo University in Nagoya, Japan, won for their contributions to developing lithium-ion batteries.
德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的约翰·B·古迪纳夫（John B. Goodenough)，纽约州立大学宾汉姆顿大学M·斯坦利·威廷汉（M. StanleyWhittingham）东京旭化成株式会社和日本名古屋名城大学的吉野彰(Akira Yoshino)，他们对开发锂离子电池所作出的贡献为他们赢得了奖项。

These lightweight, rechargeable batteries power everything from portable electronics to electric cars and bicycles, and provide a way to store energy from renewable but transient energy sources, like sunlight and wind.
这些轻便的可充电电池为从便携式电子产品到电动汽车和电动自行车的一切东西提供动力。并且提供了一种储存可再生但是瞬态能源的方式，如阳光和风能。

“This battery has had a dramatic impact on our society,” Olof Ramstrm, a chemist at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and member of the 2019 Nobel Committee for chemistry, said October 9 during the announcement of the prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. “It’s clear that the discoveries of our three laureates really made this possible. It’s really been to the very best benefit of humankind.”
“这种电池对我们的社会产生了巨大的影响”，奥洛夫·拉姆斯特罗姆（Olof Ramstrom）,马萨诸塞大学洛厄尔分校的化学家、2019年诺贝尔化学奖委员会的成员，10月9日在斯德哥尔摩的瑞典皇家科学院宣布该奖项时表示。“很明显，我们三位获奖者的发现真的使这成为可能。这真的对人类有非常大的益处。”
These newly minted laureates will equally share the prize of 9 million Swedish kronor (about $900,000). Goodenough, age 97, is the oldest person to ever receive a Nobel Prize.
这些新晋的获奖者（laureates）将平分900万瑞典克朗（约合90万美元）的奖金。现在97岁的古迪纳夫是有史以来获得诺贝尔奖中年龄最大的人。

“John is an amazing scientist, with incredible intuition, and a great person, who has inspired generations of scientists and engineers with his positive attitude, honesty and boundless curiosity,” says Yang Shao-Horn, a chemist and engineer at MIT.
麻省理工的化学家和工程师杨少宏说：“约翰是一位了不起的科学家，有着令人难以置信的直觉，是一个伟大的人，他用自己积极的态度，诚实和无限的好奇心激励了一代又一代科学家和工程师。”

Batteries store electrical energy in the form of chemical energy, and have three main parts: two electrodes (the anode or negative electrode, and the cathode, positive) and the electrolyte, which helps ions move inside the battery. Chemical reactions at one end of the battery, in the anode, release electrons that travel through a circuit to the other end and are accepted by the cathode, forming a current that can power a flashlight, cell phone or car.
电池以化学能的形式储存电能，它有三个主要部分：两个电极（electrodes）（阳极或负极，阴极，正极）和电解质（electrolyte），帮助离子（ions）在电池内部移动。电池一端的阳极发生化学反应，释放电子穿过电路去另一端然后被阴极接收，形成一股电流，可以为手电筒，手机或汽车提供动力。

Alessandro Volta demonstrated the first electric battery in 1800, and scientists have been clamoring to build better batteries ever since — mostly by searching for anode materials that can release more electrons and for cathode materials that can better attract them.

1800年，亚历山德罗·沃特尔（Alessandro Volta）展示了第一块电池，从那以后，科学家们一直呼吁（clamoring）制造更好的电池——主要是通过寻找能释放更多电子的阳极材料和能够吸引更多电子的阴极材料。

In the 1970s, Whittingham began experimenting with lithium as an anode material, because it’s so lightweight, and it readily releases electrons and positively charged lithium ions. His rechargeable battery scheme used a cathode made of titanium disulfide, which contains many layers that can house lithium ions released from the anode. While working with the energy company Exxon, Whittingham combined lithium metal and titanium disulfide in a battery, creating the first lithium battery. His battery boasted 2 volts.
在20世纪70年代，惠廷厄姆（Whittingham）开始试验以锂作为正极材料，因为它很轻，而且很容易释放电子和带正电的锂离子。他的可充电电池方案（scheme）使用了一个由二硫化钛（titanium disulfide）制成的阴极，该阴极包含许多可以容纳从阳极释放出来的锂离子的夹层。在当与能源公司埃克森（Exxon）合作时，惠廷厄姆将锂金属和二硫化钛结合成一块电池，创造了第一块锂电池。他的电池容量是2伏。

M. Stanley Whittingham devised the first lithium-based rechargeable battery (illustrated), using a cathode of titanium disulfide. When this 2-volt battery was used, electrons from the anode of metallic lithium flowed through a circuit to power an external device, while positive lithium ions flowed from the anode through the electrolyte to the cathode. There, the positive ions could snuggle between layers of the titanium disulfide. Recharging the battery forced these lithium ions to flow back across the battery to their starting positions in the anode.

惠廷厄姆设计了第一个锂基可充电电池（如图），使用的是以二硫化钛为阴极。当这种2伏电池被使用时，从金属锂阳极来的电子流过电路给外部设备供电，而正极的锂离子通过电解质从阴极流向阳极。在那里，正离子可以依偎在二硫化钛层之间。充电电池迫使这些锂离子通过电池流回它们在阳极的起始位置。
But the lithium metal that comprised Whittingham’s original anode was liable to form defects called dendrites (SN: 10/26/17) that could cause a battery to short-circuit and explode. So developers added aluminum to the lithium anode and swapped out the electrolyte substance sandwiched between the anode and cathode to make a battery safer for everyday use.
但是由惠廷厄尔的原阳极材料组成的锂金属容易形成一种叫枝晶的缺陷，可能导致电池短路和爆炸。所以研究者将铝添加到锂阳极中并且替换（substance）插（sandwiched）在阳极和阴极之间的电解质物质，使电池在日常使用中更加安全。

Then, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Goodenough sought to improve on Whittingham’s cathode by using cobalt oxide instead. This material was layered like titanium disulfide, but could house even more ions within its layers. Goodenough’s innovation doubled the voltage potential of lithium batteries to 4 volts, “a gigantic leap in the battery world,” said Ramstrm during the news conference. (Many smartphones today use lithium batteries with voltages around 4 volts.) But the battery still used lithium metal as an anode.
接着，在20世纪70年代末和80年代初，古迪纳夫（Goodenough）试图改进惠廷厄姆的阴极通过将钴氧化物来代替。这种材料像二氧化钛一样分层，但是可以容纳更多的离子在其层中。古迪纳夫的创新（innovation）将电池的电压潜力提升了一倍达到了4伏，“一个电池领域的巨大飞跃，”拉姆斯特罗姆在新闻发布会上说。（今天许多智能手机使用的锂电池的电压在4伏左右。）但是电池仍然使用锂金属作为阳极。

John Goodenough improved on M. Stanley Whittingham’s battery design by using a cobalt oxide cathode, which doubled the voltage.
古迪纳夫提高了惠廷厄姆的电流设计借助使用钴氧化物作为阴极，使电压提高了一倍。
In 1985, Yoshino explored using a by-product of oil production called petroleum coke as an anode. Like cobalt oxide, petroleum coke was finely layered, and while not made of lithium, it could store lithium ions when charged. When paired with Goodenough’s cathode, Yoshino’s anode material resulted in an even safer, more durable, lightweight and rechargeable 4-volt battery. That basic design was used in the first commercially available lithium-ion batteries in 1991.
1985年，吉野探索使用石油焦炭（petroleum coke）——石油的副产品作为阳极。和钴氧化物一样，石油焦有很精细的分层，虽然不是锂做的，但在充电时也可以存储锂离子。当古迪纳夫的阴极与吉野的阳极材料配对（paired）时产生了一个更安全，更持久（durable），更轻而且可充电的4伏电池。1991年这一基本设计被用于第一个商用锂离子电池。

“Curiosity was the main driving force for me,” said Yoshino during the news conference in Stockholm.
“好奇心是我主要的动力”，吉野在斯德哥尔摩的新闻发布会上说。

Akira Yoshino replaced the lithium metal anode with a safer petroleum coke material, paving the way for powerful, commercially viable lithium-ion batteries.
吉野用一种更安全的石油焦炭材料代替了锂金属作为阳极，为强大的，商业上可行的锂离子电池铺平了道路
These early lithium-ion batteries offered about twice as much energy as the next best option, and could be charged hundreds of times before their performance began to suffer.
这些早期的锂离子电池提供的能量是第二选择的大约两倍，而且可以在它们的性能下降前充电数百次。

“It’s very good, feeling that one’s research actually came out with something. It didn’t just fall, as they say, in the wastebasket,” said Whittingham in a teleconference on October 9, immediately following a last-minute dinner in his honor in Germany, where he was traveling at the time.
“这非常好，感觉自己的研究确实有了成果。它不仅仅是掉在垃圾篓里的失败品”，惠廷厄姆在10月9日的一次电话会议中说，当时他正在德国旅行，刚刚参加完为他举行的最后一场晚宴。

The Nobel Prize announcement is “really thrilling for the battery community,” says Kelsey Hatzell, a battery researcher at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. “Stan and Akira and John’s work is so significant.… You can’t imagine going through your daily life without using half a dozen different devices that use lithium-ion batteries,” including phones, computers and other communication devices.
诺贝尔奖的宣布“对电池界来说真令人兴奋”，纳什维尔范德比尔特大学（Vanderbilt University）的电池研究院凯尔西·哈特泽尔（Kelsey Hatzell）表示。“斯坦利，吉野，约翰的工作意义重大.你无法想象在日常生活中不使用六七种使用锂离子电池的设备”，包括手机，电脑和其他通讯设备。

“I’m extremely happy that my work has helped people’s ability to communicate around the world,” said Goodenough in a news conference in London on October 9. “We need to build relationships, not walls, and I’m happy that people use this work for good and not for evil.”
“我因为我的工作帮助了人们在世界各地的交流而感到很开心”，古迪纳夫在10月9日伦敦的新闻发布会上说。“我们需要建立关系，而不是围墙，我非常开心人们用这项技术做好事而不是坏事。”

When he was asked if he expected to win and what he’d do with the prize money, Goodenough replied, “I didn’t expect anything! It’s been a very eventful day, that’s all I can say, and I’m appreciative to everyone…. My share of the winnings will go to my university to support people who work there.”
当他被问及是否期待获奖和如何使用奖金时。古迪纳夫回答说：“我不期待任何事情!我只能说（that's all I can say），这是非常重要的一天。我分得的奖金将捐给我所在的大学去支持在那里工作的人。”

Goodenough may not have anticipated this honor, but other researchers have long considered him a shoo-in for the chemistry Nobel. “People in the electrochemistry field … have put him number one on our [Nobel prediction] lists for years and years and years and years,” says chemist Amanda Morris of  Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. “It was really great to see him and the other recipients finally get recognized.”
古迪纳夫可能没有料想到他会获得这个荣誉，但是其他研究人员一直认为他是诺贝尔化学奖的得主。“在化学领域的人们多年来一直把他的名字放在我们（诺贝尔预测）名单上的第一位，”布莱克斯堡弗吉亚理工大学的化学家阿曼达·莫里斯说。“这真是太棒了看到他和其他获奖者最终获得认可。”

Lithium-ion batteries now perform much better than those on the market in 1991. “Over the past two decades or more, researchers have been working very hard to boost [rechargeable batteries’] energy. The energy has doubled — even tripled, in some cases, and the cycle life has improved greatly,” says Shao-Horn. Today, you can recharge these batteries thousands of times. The batteries have also gotten safer and cheaper (SN: 1/13/17).
现在锂离子电池的性能比1991年市场上的要好得多。“在过去的20多年里，研究人员一直在努力提高（可充电电池）能量。在某些情况下（in some cases），能量增加了一倍甚至两倍，循环寿命也大大提高了，”Shao-Horn说。今天，你可以给这些电池充电几千次。电池也变得更加安全和便宜（SN：1/13/17）。

The invention of lithium-ion batteries “is such a great example of improving people’s lives through the power of chemistry,” says biochemist Bonnie Charpentier, president of the American Chemical Society and senior vice president of regulatory, quality and drug safety at biopharmaceutical company Cytokinetics, Inc.
生物化学家，美国化学会主席同时也是生物制药公司Cytokinetics公司负责监管质量和药物安全的高级副总裁的Bonnie Charpentier说，离子电池的发明“是通过化学的力量来改善人们生活的一个很好的例子。”

What’s more, “this is the international year of the periodic table of elements, so it’s fun to have a Nobel Prize that actually names an element,” she says (SN: 1/8/19).
更重要的是（What's more），她说“今年是元素周期表的国际年，所以能有一个真正命名一种元素的诺贝尔奖是很有趣的一件事。”

Researchers are now developing different types of rechargeable lithium batteries, such as lithium-oxygen or lithium-sulfur , that could pack more power in a more lightweight package than traditional lithium-ion batteries. Other scientists, Hatzell says, are trying to figure out how to efficiently recycle lithium-ion batteries or build batteries using more sustainable resources  than today’s power cells.
研究人员现在正在研发不同种类的可充电锂电池，如锂氧电池（lithium-oxygen）或锂硫电池（lithium-sulfur），它们会比传统的锂离子电池更轻，能量更大。Hatzell说，其他科学家正在试图解决如何有效地回收锂离子电池或用比现在的电池更可持续的资源来制造电池

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