Researchers have questioned John Goodenough's claim that his team developed a battery zero 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 10. “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.
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.