Education
1970: / Kyoto, Japan Bachelor of Surgery in Engineering
1972: Kyoto University / Kyoto, Japan Master of Surgery in Engineering
2005: Osaka University / Osaka, Japan Doctorate in Engineering.
吉野 彰
1970: / Kyoto, Japan Bachelor of Surgery in Engineering
1972: Kyoto University / Kyoto, Japan Master of Surgery in Engineering
2005: Osaka University / Osaka, Japan Doctorate in Engineering.
Fellow, Asahi Kasei Corporation Inventor of lithium-ion battery (LIB) used for cellular phone and notebook computer et cetera 1972: Kawasaki Laboratory, Asahi Kasei Corporation / development of lithium-ion battery et cetera
1992: Manager, Product Development Group, Ion Battery Business Promotion Department, Asahi Kasei Corporation
1994: Manager, Technical Development, A&T Battery Corporation (LIB manufacturer Joint venture company of Asahi Kasei and Toshiba)) 2003–present: Fellow, Asahi Kasei Corporation
/ researching next-generation themes 2005–present: General Manager, Yoshino Laboratory, Asahi Kasei Corporation / advanced battery research In 1981 Akira Yoshino began research on rechargeable batteries using polyacetylene.
In 1983 Yoshino fabricated a prototype rechargeable battery using lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) (discovered by John Goodenough and Koichi Mizushima in 1979) as cathode and polyacetylene as anode.
This prototype, in which the anode material itself contains no lithium, and lithium ions migrate from the LiCoO2 cathode into the anode during charging, was the direct precursor to the modern lithium-ion battery (LIB). Polyacetylene had low real density which meant high capacity required large battery volume, and also had problems with instability, so Yoshino switched to carbonaceous material as anode and in 1985 fabricated the first prototype of the LIB and received the basic patent., This was the birth of the current lithium-ion battery. The LIB in this configuration was commercialized by Sony in 1991 and by A&T Battery (joint venture company of Asahi Kasei and Toshiba) in 1992.
Yoshino discovered that carbonaceous material with a certain crystalline structure was suitable as anode material, and this is the anode material that was used in the first generation of commercial LIBs.
Yoshino developed the aluminum foil current collector which formed a passivation layer to enable high cell voltage at low cost, and developed the functional separator membrane and the use of a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) device for additional safety. The LIB’s coil-wound structure was conceived by Yoshino to provide large electrode surface area and enable high current discharge despite the low conductivity of the organic electrolyte.
In 1986 Yoshino commissioned the manufacture of a batch of LIB prototypes. Based on safety test data from those prototypes, the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a letter stating that the batteries were different from the metallic lithium battery.
1999: Fiscal 1998 Chemical Technology Prize from the Chemical Society of Japan 1999: Battery Division Technology Award from The Electrochemical Society 2001: Ichimura Prizes in Industry—Meritorious Achievement Prize 2003: Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology—Prize for Science and Technology, Development Category 2004: Medal with Purple Ribbon, from the Government of Japan 2011: Yamazaki-Teiichi Prize from the Foundation for Promotion of Material Science and Technology of Japan 2011: C&C Prize from the Nippon Electric Corporation C&C Foundation 2012: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Medal for Environmental and Safety Technologies from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (United States of America) 2013: Global Energy Prize (Russia) 2014: Charles Stark Draper Prize (United States of America).
