2019 Nobel Prize Winners in Chemistry 2019年诺贝尔化学奖获得者

Maria Temming, Jonathan Lambert 陈延洲

These three scientists， John B. Goodenough， M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino （from left）， have won the 2019 Nobel Prize in chemistry for their work on lithium-ion batteries1.

这三位科学家，约翰·古迪纳夫、斯坦利·维丁汉姆和吉野彰（左起）因在锂离子电池方面的研究获得了2019年诺贝尔化学奖。

Alessandro Volta demonstrated2 the first electric battery in 1800. Since then， scientists have been working to build better ones. Todays winners were honored for pioneering the lithium-ion battery. Lightweight and rechargeable， these batteries can be found in everything from portable electronics to electric cars and bicycles. They also provide a way to store energy from renewable energy sources （such as sunlight and wind）.

亚历山德罗·沃尔塔在1800年展示了世界上第一块电池。从那以后，科学家们一直致力于制造出更好的电池。这次的（诺贝尔化学奖）获奖者因研发了锂离子电池而受到表彰。这些轻巧、可充电的电池被广泛应用在便携式电子产品以及电动汽车和自行车上。它们还提供了一种储存可再生能源（如光能和风能）的方法。

The winners include John B. Goodenough at the University of Texas at Austin. At 97， he is the oldest person to ever receive a Nobel. The other winners are M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino. Whittingham works at Binghamton University in New York. Yoshiro works in Japan at Asahi Kasei Corporation in Tokyo and Meijo University in Nagoya.

获奖者包括美国得克萨斯大学奥斯汀校区的约翰·古迪纳夫。约翰·古迪纳夫现年97歲，是迄今为止最大年龄的诺贝尔奖获得者。其他两名获奖者分别是斯坦利·维丁汉姆和吉野彰。维丁汉姆任教于纽约州宾汉姆顿大学。吉野彰任职于日本东京的旭化成公司和名古屋的名城大学。

All three will receive a medal and together share the prize of 9 million Swedish kronor （about $900，000）.

三位获奖者各将获得一枚奖章，并平分900万瑞典克朗（约合90万美元）的奖金。

Chemist Olof Ramstr■m works at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He also is a member of the 2019 Nobel Committee3 for chemistry. He said， “This battery has had a dramatic impact on our society. Its clear that the discoveries of our three laureates4 really made this possible.”

化学家奥洛夫·拉姆斯特罗任职于马萨诸塞大学洛威尔分校。他也是2019年诺贝尔化学奖委员会成员之一。他说，“这种电池对我们的社会产生了巨大的影响。很明显，我们的三位获奖者的发现确实做到了这一点。”

In the 1970s， Whittingham began experimenting with lithium5 for his anode6. It did not weigh much and easily released electrons7 and lithium ions8. Whittingham used this design for the first lithium battery.

上世纪70年代，维丁汉姆开始实验用锂做阳极。它重量不大，很容易地释放出电子和锂离子。维丁汉姆将这种设计用于第一块锂电池。

Goodenough tried to improve on Whittinghams design over the next decade. Goodenoughs innovation9 doubled voltage. Thats about what it takes to power a modern smartphone.

古迪纳夫在接下来的十年里试着改进维丁汉姆的设计。古迪纳夫的革新使得电池电压翻倍。这为现代智能手机提供了动力。

In 1985， Yoshino explored creating an anode from a by-product of oil production. The result was a safer， more durable10， 4-volt rechargeable11 battery. That design was used for the first lithium-ion batteries to hit store shelves. That was in 1991.

1985年，吉野彰探索利用石油生产的副产品来制造阳极。结果研发出了一个更安全耐用的4伏充电电池。在1991年，这种设计被应用于第一批上架销售的锂离子电池。

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The Nobel Prize announcement is “really thrilling for the battery community，” says Kelsey Hatzell. “Stan and Akira and Johns work is so significant. You cant imagine going through your daily life without using half a dozen different devices that use lithium-ion batteries.”

凯尔西·哈策尔说，诺贝尔奖的宣告“对电池界来说真的激动人心”。“斯坦利·维丁汉姆、吉野彰和约翰·古迪纳夫的工作意义重大。你无法想象，如果不用那些使用锂电池的设备，你的日常生活会是怎样的。”

Goodenough said “Im extremely happy that my work has helped peoples ability to communicate.” When asked if he had expected to win， Goodenough replied， “I didnt expect anything！” He said hed donate his share of the winnings “to my university to support people who work there”.

古迪纳夫说：“我非常高兴我的努力能对人们的沟通有所帮助。”当被问到是否预料到会获奖时，古迪纳夫回答说：“我没期待过！”。他说他将把自己应得的奖金捐给“自己的大学，以支持在那里工作的人们”。

Goodenough may not have expected to win， but others had long considered him a shoo-in12. “People in the electrochemistry field... have put him number one on our （Nobel prediction） lists for years and years and years and years，” says Amanda Morris， a chemist at Virginia Tech.

古迪納夫也许没料到会获奖，但其他人早就认为他十拿九稳。“电化学领域的人……多年来一直把他列在我们（诺贝尔奖预测）名单的榜首。”弗吉尼亚理工大学的化学家阿曼达·莫里斯说。

Lithium-ion batteries now perform much better than those in 1991. Over the past two decades or more， researchers have been working very hard. And its paid off. The energy available from these batteries has doubled—even tripled， in some cases， and the cycle life has improved greatly. Today， you can recharge these batteries thousands of times. They also have gotten safer and less costly.

现在锂离子电池的性能比起1991年的要好得多。在过去的20多年里，研究人员一直在努力。这一切得到了回报。在某些情况下，这些电池的存储能力已经是以前的两倍甚至三倍，循环使用的寿命也大大延长了。今天，你可以给这些电池充电数千次。它们也变得更安全，成本更低。

【Notes】

1. lithium-ion battery锂离子电池 2. demonstrate [     ] vt. 证明;展示

3. committee [     ] n. 委员会 4. laureate [     ] n. 获奖者，荣誉获得者

5. lithium [     ] n. 锂 6. anode [     ] n. 阳极

7. electron [     ] n. 电子 8. ion [     ] n. 离子

9. innovation [     ] n. 创新，革新;新方法

10. durable [     ] adj. 耐用的，持久的

11. rechargeable [     ] adj. 可再充电的

12. shoo-in [     ] n. 稳操胜券的人（或事）