SK Innovation Cooperates with Goodenough - Father of Lithium-Ion Battery

SK innovation announced that it will develop next-generation battery technology with Professor John Goodenough, a 2019 Nobel laureate in chemistry who is known as the father of the lithium-ion battery. Goodenough and Dr. Hadi Khani at The University of Texas at Austin aim to develop unique gel-polymer electrolyte for a lithium metal battery with the goal of providing higher energy density and better safety at a competitive cost.

John Goodenough is a professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also a pioneer of lithium-ion batteries. He is known as the "father of lithium-ion battery". He is widely credited with the identification and development of the lithium-ion battery, for developing the Goodenough–Kanamori rules in determining the sign of the magnetic superexchange in materials, and for seminal developments in computer random access memory.

SK Innovation Co., Ltd. engages in the development and production of petroleum products. It operates through the Petroleum Development and Battery Businesses. The Battery business provides a cell, module, pack, and battery management systems. The company was founded on July 3, 2007, and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea.

The lithium-ion battery is considered at this time to be the most effective system for electric vehicles. However, it has limitations for increasing its energy density, which is necessary to extend the driving ranges of EVs between charges as well as create smaller, lighter batteries. In fact, with current lithium-ion chemistry, it is not likely to overcome 800 Wh/L energy density. To deliver a battery with 1,000 Wh/L energy density, a lithium metal anode, and the solid-state electrolyte is viewed as a promising solution.

"Together with SK innovation, I hope we can open the next-generation battery era," Goodenough said. At present, SK Innovation has not disclosed any information about its planned new-generation battery technology content or the time of battery development.

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