Rüdorff and Ulrich Hofmann's work on graphite intercalation compound and sulfuric acid became an ancestor of lithium ion battery.
Rüdorff's team discovered the ternary oxide series (including LiVO and NaVO) in 1954  with a unique structure. The compounds with the same structural type are called rudorffites for this reason.
Rüdorff's work in 1965 on hosting lithium in titanium disulfide (TiS) inspired early efforts into using metal chalcogenides as battery cathode material.