This year, the battery industry celebrates the 25th anniversary of the introduction of the lithium ion rechargeable battery by Sony Corporation. The discovery of the system dates back to earlier work by Asahi Kasei in Japan, which used a combination of lower temperature carbons for the negative electrode to prevent solvent degradation and lithium cobalt dioxide modified somewhat from Goodenough's earlier work. The development by Sony was carried out within a few years by bringing together technology in film coating from their magnetic tape division and electrochemical technology from their battery division. The past 25 years has shown rapid growth in the sales and in the benefits of lithium ion in comparison to all the earlier rechargeable battery systems. Recent work on new materials shows that there is a good likelihood that the lithium ion battery will continue to improve in cost, energy, safety and power capability and will be a formidable competitor for some years to come.

Modification of the surface chemistry of nanocrystalline VN yields a new class of supercapacitors that deliver an impressive specific capacitance. The creation of surface nanolayers of VOx (poor electronic conductivity) on the electronically conductive nanocrystalline VN shown in the figure and on the cover gives rise to a series of reversible redox reactions that are thought to be responsible for the high capacitance. Application of the concept to other transition metals is expected to broaden the scope of supercapacitor materials.

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