Dr. Akira Yoshino - Asahi Kasei Automotive...

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Dr. Akira Yoshino Pioneer of the Lithium-Ion Battery

Transcript of Dr. Akira Yoshino - Asahi Kasei Automotive...

Page 1: Dr. Akira Yoshino - Asahi Kasei Automotive Solutionsautomotive-asahi-kasei.eu/documents/Dr.-Akira-Yoshino.pdfDr. Akira Yoshino - CV CV Akira Yoshino was born on January 30, 1948 in

Dr. Akira YoshinoPioneer of the Lithium-Ion Battery

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Dr. Akira Yoshino - CV

CV

Akira Yoshino was born on January 30, 1948 in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.From 1970 he studied chemistry at the University of Kyoto. Parallel to beginning hismaster's degree in chemistry, he joined Asahi Kasei in 1972. He received his doctorate inengineering from the University of Osaka in 2005.

Career

After joining Asahi Kasei in 1972, Akira Yoshino worked for many years in the laboratoryin Kawasaki before being appointed Head of the Ion Battery Development Department in1992. After further positions as Head of the Ion Battery Group and the DevelopmentDepartment for Battery Materials, he became General Director of the Yoshino Laboratorynamed after him at Asahi Kasei in 2005.

Since 2010 Akira Yoshino is Head of the Lithium Ion Battery Technology and EvaluationCenter (LIBTEC). In 2017 he was appointed professor of the Scientific and TechnicalCollege at Meijo University in Tokyo. In the same year, he became Honorary Fellow atAsahi Kasei.

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The Lithium-Ion Battery

The commercialization of the rechargeable lithium-ion battery wasdriven forward in the early 1990s by Sony and a joint venturebetween Toshiba and Asahi Kasei.

The lithium-ion battery opened the path for mobile electronic devicessuch as smartphones or notebooks to spread rapidly worldwide and,with its application in electromobility, represents an important futuretechnology for the automotive industry as well.

Mobility in everyday life would be impossible without the successfulcommercialization of this technology.

By combining existing and original technologies, Dr. Akira Yoshinomade the lithium-ion battery in its current form possible in 1985.

Key technology for the mobility of today and tomorrow

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Scientific Breakthroughs

Background

With the spread of mobile electronic devices such as the SonyWalkman from the 1970s, the need for lightweight and compactrechargeable batteries to replace the common and non-rechargeableprimary cells increased.

Lithium was identified early on as a powerful anode material forrechargeable batteries. However, the easy inflammability andsusceptibility to short circuits with the cathode posed greatchallenges to science and for a long time prevented the practical useof lithium-ion batteries.

Akira Yoshino began researching polyacetylene in 1981, which heconsidered as a potential anode material instead of lithium. Withoutlithium, however, the production of lithium ions necessary for thefunctionality of the lithium-ion battery was missing. Yoshino was nowlooking for a suitable cathode material.

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Scientific Breakthroughs

After further research, Akira Yoshino experimented with lithiumcobalt oxide (LiCoO2), discovered by Dr. John B. Goodenough in 1979.LiCoO2 supplied the necessary lithium ions and was therefore asuitable cathode material for a polyethinanode. After successful testswith this combination, he was able to prove the practical applicationof a rechargeable lithium-ion battery in 1983.

In 1985 Akira Yoshino filed a patent for a lithium-ion battery with aLiCoO2 cathode and a carbon-based anode. This design representsthe birth of the modern lithium-ion battery and is still in use today.The patent was granted in 1995.

Breakthrough

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Scientific Breakthroughs

In addition to the perfect anode-cathode combination, Akira Yoshinohas made important contributions to the practical and safe use of thelithium-ion battery.

One contribution is the use of a polyolefin-based porous membrane,which is used as a separator between the anode and cathode andprevents the battery from exploding in the event of overheating.

Another contribution is the use of an aluminum foil, which serves as acurrent collector for the cathode and contributes to increasing theperformance of the lithium-ion battery.

Further Contributions

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Summary

With his experiments and the combination of existing and proprietarytechnologies, Akira Yoshino was able to prove the practicalapplication of the lithium-ion battery. His contributions also enabledthe following characteristics of the battery:

• Light, compact and space-saving design• High cell voltage of 4 volts and more• Low self-discharge rate• High-current capability

Akira Yoshino is an honorary research fellow at Asahi Kasei and headof the Lithium Ion Battery Technology and Evaluation Center (LIBTEC)and is actively involved in the further development of lithium-ionbattery technology even after retirement.

Pioneer of the Lithium-Ion Battery

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Awards

Contributions to the development of the lithium-ion battery (excerpt)

• 1999: Chemical Technology PrizeChemical Society of Japan

• 2004: Medal with Purple RibbonJapanese Government

• 2012: IEEE MedalThe Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (USA)

• 2013: Global Energy PrizeThe Global Energy Association (Russland)

• 2014: Charles Stark Draper PrizeThe National Academy of Engineering (USA)

• 2016: NIMS AwardNational Institute for Materials Science (Japan)

• 2018: The Japan PrizeThe Japan Prize Foundation

• 2019: European Inventor AwardEuropean Patent Office

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Further Information

Links

Asahi Kasei – Special site on Dr. Akira Yoshinohttp://www.asahi-kasei.co.jp/asahi/en/yoshino/

Asahi Kasei – Interview with Dr. Akira Yoshinohttp://www.asahi-kasei.co.jp/asahi/en/r_and_d/interview/yoshino.html

The Japan Prize Foundation – Laureate Dr. Akira Yoshinohttp://www.japanprize.jp/en/prize_past_2018_prize01.html

The Japan Prize Foundation (YouTube) – Video about Dr. Akira Yoshinohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRslgKiX5mM

Bloomberg – Interview (December 2017)https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-26/autonomous-cars-need-tougher-batteries-lithium-ion-pioneer-says

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