Celebrating a better battery

Science | Technology - Cath Harris | 30 Nov 10. It's 30 years since research by Oxford University scientists led to the development of one of the world's most popular rechargeable batteries. The lithium-ion battery is used in electric cars, mobile phones, laptops and even hearing aids, and by the military and NASA in surveillance and communications equipment. Despite fires and explosions during development, its relatively light weight and slow loss of charge has allowed manufacturers to significantly reduce the size of portable devices, and cut greenhouse gas emissions. Today the Royal Society of Chemistry is marking the academics' work with the award of a special plaque to be mounted at the entrance to Oxford University's Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory where the four scientists made their discovery. 'The idea just came out of the woodwork,' one of the academics, Dr Phil Wiseman says. 'When you see children in Vietnam using mobile phones it's odd to think their devices use the compound we investigated three decades ago.