Maria Temming, Jonathan Lambert 陳延洲

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.

這三位科學(xué)家，約翰·古迪納夫、斯坦利·維丁漢姆和吉野彰（左起）因在鋰離子電池方面的研究獲得了2019年諾貝爾化學(xué)獎(jiǎng)。

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）.

亞歷山德羅·沃爾塔在1800年展示了世界上第一塊電池。從那以后，科學(xué)家們一直致力于制造出更好的電池。這次的（諾貝爾化學(xué)獎(jiǎng)）獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)咭蜓邪l(fā)了鋰離子電池而受到表彰。這些輕巧、可充電的電池被廣泛應(yīng)用在便攜式電子產(chǎn)品以及電動(dòng)汽車和自行車上。它們還提供了一種儲(chǔ)存可再生能源（如光能和風(fēng)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.

獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)甙绹?guó)得克薩斯大學(xué)奧斯汀校區(qū)的約翰·古迪納夫。約翰·古迪納夫現(xiàn)年97歲，是迄今為止最大年齡的諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)獲得者。其他兩名獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)叻謩e是斯坦利·維丁漢姆和吉野彰。維丁漢姆任教于紐約州賓漢姆頓大學(xué)。吉野彰任職于日本東京的旭化成公司和名古屋的名城大學(xué)。

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

三位獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)吒鲗@得一枚獎(jiǎng)?wù)拢⑵椒?00萬(wàn)瑞典克朗（約合90萬(wàn)美元）的獎(jiǎng)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.”

化學(xué)家?jiàn)W洛夫·拉姆斯特羅任職于馬薩諸塞大學(xué)洛威爾分校。他也是2019年諾貝爾化學(xué)獎(jiǎng)委員會(huì)成員之一。他說(shuō)，“這種電池對(duì)我們的社會(huì)產(chǎn)生了巨大的影響。很明顯，我們的三位獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)叩陌l(fā)現(xiàn)確實(shí)做到了這一點(diǎn)?！?/p>

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.

上世紀(jì)70年代，維丁漢姆開(kāi)始實(shí)驗(yàn)用鋰做陽(yáng)極。它重量不大，很容易地釋放出電子和鋰離子。維丁漢姆將這種設(shè)計(jì)用于第一塊鋰電池。

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.

古迪納夫在接下來(lái)的十年里試著改進(jìn)維丁漢姆的設(shè)計(jì)。古迪納夫的革新使得電池電壓翻倍。這為現(xiàn)代智能手機(jī)提供了動(dòng)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產(chǎn)的副產(chǎn)品來(lái)制造陽(yáng)極。結(jié)果研發(fā)出了一個(gè)更安全耐用的4伏充電電池。在1991年，這種設(shè)計(jì)被應(yīng)用于第一批上架銷售的鋰離子電池。

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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.”

凱爾西·哈策爾說(shuō)，諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)的宣告“對(duì)電池界來(lái)說(shuō)真的激動(dòng)人心”?！八固估ぞS丁漢姆、吉野彰和約翰·古迪納夫的工作意義重大。你無(wú)法想象，如果不用那些使用鋰電池的設(shè)備，你的日常生活會(huì)是怎樣的?！?/p>

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”.

古迪納夫說(shuō)：“我非常高興我的努力能對(duì)人們的溝通有所幫助。”當(dāng)被問(wèn)到是否預(yù)料到會(huì)獲獎(jiǎng)時(shí)，古迪納夫回答說(shuō)：“我沒(méi)期待過(guò)！”。他說(shuō)他將把自己應(yīng)得的獎(jiǎng)金捐給“自己的大學(xué)，以支持在那里工作的人們”。

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.

古迪納夫也許沒(méi)料到會(huì)獲獎(jiǎng)，但其他人早就認(rèn)為他十拿九穩(wěn)?！半娀瘜W(xué)領(lǐng)域的人……多年來(lái)一直把他列在我們（諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)?lì)A(yù)測(cè)）名單的榜首?！备ゼ醽喞砉ご髮W(xué)的化學(xué)家阿曼達(dá)·莫里斯說(shuō)。

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.

現(xiàn)在鋰離子電池的性能比起1991年的要好得多。在過(guò)去的20多年里，研究人員一直在努力。這一切得到了回報(bào)。在某些情況下，這些電池的存儲(chǔ)能力已經(jīng)是以前的兩倍甚至三倍，循環(huán)使用的壽命也大大延長(zhǎng)了。今天，你可以給這些電池充電數(shù)千次。它們也變得更安全，成本更低。

【Notes】

1. lithium-ion battery鋰離子電池 2. demonstrate [?????] vt. 證明;展示

3. committee [?????] n. 委員會(huì) 4. laureate [?????] n. 獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)?，榮譽(yù)獲得者

5. lithium [?????] n. 鋰 6. anode [?????] n. 陽(yáng)極

7. electron [?????] n. 電子 8. ion [?????] n. 離子

9. innovation [?????] n. 創(chuàng)新，革新;新方法

10. durable [?????] adj. 耐用的，持久的

11. rechargeable [?????] adj. 可再充電的

12. shoo-in [?????] n. 穩(wěn)操勝券的人（或事）