年諾貝爾化學獎揭曉

Most 97-year-olds would probably feel accomplished just getting out of bed in the morning. John B. Goodenough, 97, just won the Nobel Prize in chemistry.

大多數97歲的老年人只要早上能起得了牀就會充滿成就感。而97歲的約翰·B·古迪納夫剛剛獲得了諾貝爾化學獎。

Goodenough won the award alongside Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino for their contributions to the development of lithium-ion batteries.

今年的諾貝爾化學獎頒發給了古迪納夫、斯坦利·惠廷漢姆和吉野彰三位獲獎者，以表彰他們對鋰離子電池發展的貢獻。

They will receive equal shares of the 9m Swedish kronor prize, which was announced by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm on Wednesday.

週三（10月9日），位於斯德哥爾摩的瑞典皇家科學院宣佈，三位獲獎者將平分900萬瑞典克朗（約合人民幣644萬元）的獎金。

Goodenough is the oldest person to win a Nobel Prize. Arthur Ashkin was the previous record holder, having won the Nobel Prize in physics in 2018 at age 96.

古迪納夫是最年長的諾貝爾獎獲得者。之前的紀錄保持者是阿瑟·阿什金，他在2018年以96歲的高齡獲得了諾貝爾物理學獎。

"Live to 97 (years old) and you can do anything," Goodenough said in a statement. "I'm honored and humbled to win the Nobel Prize. I thank all my friends for the support and assistance throughout my life."

古迪納夫在一份聲明中說：“活到97歲，你可以做任何事情。能獲得諾貝爾獎，我感到既榮幸又受寵若驚。感謝所有的朋友一直以來對我的支持和幫助。”

Born in 1922 in Jena, Germany, Goodenough earned a PhD from the University of Chicago in 1952, according to the Nobel Foundation. He went on to work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then at the University of Oxford, where he served as the head of the Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, according to the University of Texas at Austin, where he now works.

據諾貝爾獎基金會介紹，古迪納夫1922年出生於德國耶拿，1952年獲得芝加哥大學博士學位。據目前任職的得克薩斯大學奧斯汀分校介紹，古迪納夫先後在麻省理工學院和牛津大學工作，並曾擔任牛津大學無機化學實驗室負責人。

It was at Oxford that Goodenough made the groundbreaking discovery that helped him win the Nobel, UT Austin officials said in a news release.

校方在新聞稿中說，正是在牛津大學期間，古迪納夫取得了突破性的發現，幫助他獲得了諾貝爾獎。

Whittingham developed the first functional lithium battery in the early 1970s, but Goodenough was able to double the battery's potential in 1980 by using lithium cobalt oxide as the cathode of a lithium-ion battery, the foundation said. Using Goodenough's cathode as a basis, Yoshino created the first commercially viable lithium-ion battery five years later.

諾貝爾獎基金會稱，惠廷漢姆在20世紀70年代初發明瞭第一塊功能性鋰電池，但是古迪納夫在1980年使用鈷酸鋰作爲鋰離子電池的正極，使電池的電勢翻了一番。五年後，吉野彰以古迪納夫的發明爲基礎，製造出了第一塊具有商業可行性的鋰離子電池。

"Lithium-ion batteries have revolutionised our lives since they first entered the market in 1991," the Nobel Foundation said in a statement. "They have laid the foundation of a wireless, fossil fuel-free society, and are of the greatest benefit to humankind."

該基金會在一份聲明中說：“自1991年首次進入市場以來，鋰離子電池已經徹底改變了我們的生活，爲無線、無化石燃料的社會奠定了基礎，人們獲益匪淺。”

Lithium-ion batteries have long been tipped for the award, not least since they have proved pivotal in the development of the high-tech world we inhabit.

鋰離子電池一直是諾貝爾化學獎的熱門，主要是因爲鋰離子電池在當今高科技世界的發展中起到了關鍵作用。

From laptops to smartphones, lithium-ion batteries power some of the most commonly used devices. Electric vehicles were made possible because of the development of these batteries, and wireless communication has flourished because of the technology.

從筆記本電腦到智能手機，鋰離子電池爲一些最常用的設備提供動力。正是由於鋰離子電池的發展，人們研發出了電動汽車，無線通信也因爲鋰離子電池而蓬勃發展。

"The [electric car] batteries no longer weigh two tonnes, but 300kg," said Prof Sara Snogerup Linse, a member of the Nobel committee for chemistry. "The ability to store energy from renewable sources, the sun, the wind, opens up for sustainable energy consumption," she added.

諾貝爾化學獎評選委員會成員薩拉·斯諾格魯普·林斯教授說：“這種（電動汽車）電池的重量不再是2噸，而是300公斤。鋰離子電池儲存來自太陽能、風能等可再生能源的能力爲可持續的能源消費打開了大門。”

"I'm extremely happy the lithium-ion batteries (have) helped communications around the world," Goodenough said Wednesday in a conference call with reporters. "We are indeed happy that people use this for good and not evil."

古迪納夫在週三（10月9日）的記者電話會議上說：“我非常高興鋰離子電池幫助全球的人們溝通交流。我們確實很高興人們用它來做好事，而不是做壞事。”

Even at the age of 97, he continues to develop new polymers and battery concepts with researchers in his lab. He is now largely focused on developing all-solid-state batteries as they can offer better safety, according to Arumugam Manthiram, a longtime colleague from UT Austin.

即使在97歲的高齡，他仍然在實驗室裏和研究人員一起開發新的聚合物，研究新的電池概念。據他在該校的老同事阿魯穆加姆·曼迪亞姆說，古迪納夫現在主要專注於開發全固態電池，因爲其安全性更佳。