Researchers have questioned John Goodenough 's claim that his team developed a battery 10 times as energy dense as normal lithium - ion batteries using an electrode of pure lithium or sodium . The development appears to originate from the laws of thermodynamics . To produce energy , differing materials must produce differing electro - ##chemical reactions in the anode and cathode to produce voltage . With pure lithium or sodium , the voltage should be zero . “ He ’s technically made a perpetual charging machine , ” said professor Viswanathan , professor at Carnegie Mellon University . Dan Steingart , a Princeton professor , suggested oxygen leaked into the cell , making the battery not a solid - state lithium - ion battery , but instead a compressed - air battery .
Researchers have questioned John Goodenough's claim that his team developed a battery 10 times as energy dense as normal lithium-ion batteries using an electrode of pure lithium or sodium. The development appears to depart from the laws of thermodynamics. To produce energy, differing materials must produce differing electro-chemical reactions in the anode and cathode to produce voltage. With pure lithium or sodium, the voltage should be zero. “He’s technically made a perpetual motion machine,” said Venkat Viswanathan, professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Dan Steingart, a Princeton professor, suggested oxygen leaked into the cell, making the cell not a solid-state lithium-ion battery, but instead a lithium-air battery.