How can we make lithium-ion batteries more su...

On 26 April 2026, it will be 40 years since the explosion at Unit 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant – the worst nuclear accident the world has known. In the early hours of 26 April 1986, a badly designed reactor, operated under intense pressure during a safety test, ran out ...  Show more

In this episode of Physics World Stories, host Andrew Glester explores the fascinating hunt for pristine comets – icy bodies that preserve material from the solar system’s beginnings and even earlier. Unlike more familiar comets that repeatedly swing close to the Sun and transfor ...  Show more

The Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2019 was awarded to John Goodenough, Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino "for the development of lithium-ion batteries." These rechargeable batteries are in our phones, and in our laptops. And they will be the batteries powering electric vehicle ...  Show more

Can we meet the soaring demand for lithium, a vital metal for electric cars and green energy? Mining is concentrated in a limited number of countries such as Australia and Chile. And with China dominating the manufacture of electric car batteries and already accounting for the im ...  Show more

Are lithium-powered electric vehicles as ‘green’ as we think they are? With the advent of electric cars, manufacturers tell us we’re racing towards a clean-energy future. It’s lithium that powers these vehicles. Most of the world’s stocks of this lightest of metals are found in b ...  Show more

The lithium-ion battery business is taking off, and the battery recycling business is close behind. Financiers are pouring over a billion dollars into recycling companies like Redwood Materials, Ascend Elements, and Li-Cycle. But success depends on a steady supply of used batteri ...  Show more