Profile of Dr. Akira Yoshino

Academic background

March 1970 B.S., Department of Petrochemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Kyoto University
March 1972 M.S., Department of Petrochemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University
March 2005 Dr.Eng., Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University

Work career

April 1972 Entered Asahi Kasei Corp.
March 1992 Manager, Product Development Group, Ion Battery Business Promotion Dept., Asahi Kasei Corp.
August 1994 Manager, Technical Development, A&T Battery Corp.
June 1998 Manager, Rechargeable Ion Battery Group, Asahi Kasei Corp.
May 2001 Manager, Battery Materials Business Development Dept., Asahi Kasei Corp.
October 2003 Group Fellow, Asahi Kasei Corp.
August 2005 General Manager, Yoshino Laboratory, Asahi Kasei Corp.
April 2010 President, Lithium Ion Battery Technology and Evaluation Center (LIBTEC)*
October 2015 Advisor, Asahi Kasei Corp.
July 2017 Professor, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Meijo University
October 2017 Honorary Fellow, Asahi Kasei Corp.*
April 2018 Visiting Professor, Research and Education Center for Green Technologies, Kyushu University*
December 2019 Distinguished University Professor, Kyushu University*
January 2020 AIST Fellow*
Director, Global Zero Emission Research Center, Department of Energy and Environment*
December 2020 Member of the Japan Academy*
April 2021 University Professor and Distinguished Professor of Meijo University*
  • *Current position

Major awards and recognitions

March 1999 Fiscal 1998 Chemical Technology Prize from the Chemical Society of Japan for achievements in the development of the lithium-ion battery
October 1999 Battery Division Technology Award from The Electrochemical Society for achievements in pioneering work on lithium-ion battery technology
April 2001 Ichimura Prizes in Industry—Meritorious Achievement Prize, from the New Technology Development Foundation (Ichimura Foundation) for achievements in the development and commercialization of the lithium-ion battery
October 2001 Kanto-block Commendation for Invention—Encouragement Prize of Invention of the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, from the Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation
June 2002 National Commendation for Invention—Invention Prize of the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, from the Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation
April 2003 Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology—Prize for Science and Technology, Development Category, from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
April 2004 Medal with Purple Ribbon, from the Government of Japan
November 2011 Yamazaki-Teiichi Prize from the Foundation for Promotion of Material Science and Technology of Japan
November 2011 C&C Prize from the NEC C&C Foundation
March 2012 Designation as a Fellow of the Chemical Society of Japan
June 2012 IEEE Medal for Environmental and Safety Technologies from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
June 2013 The Global Energy Prize
November 2013 The Kato Memorial Prize from the Kato Foundation for Promotion of Science
February 2014 The Charles Stark Draper Prize for Engineering from The National Academy of Engineering
September 2016 The NIMS Award 2016 from the National Institute for Materials Science
April 2018 The Japan Prize
June 2019 The European Inventor Award
November 2019 The Order of Culture, Person of Cultural Merit
December 2019 The Nobel Prize in Chemistry
December 2023 The VinFuture Grand Prize

Notable research reports

  • “Converting carbon material into a battery negative electrode (in Japanese)"
    TANSO (Journal of The Carbon Society of Japan), 1999, No. 186, 45–49
    Akira Yoshino
  • “Development of Lithium Ion Battery and Recent Technology Trends (in Japanese, published pursuant to receipt of prize from the Chemical Society of Japan)"
    Journal of The Chemical Society of Japan, 2000, No. 8, 523–534
    Akira Yoshino, Kenji Otsuka, Takayuki Nakajima, Akira Koyama, Satoshi Nakajo
  • “Development of Lithium Ion Battery"
    Mol. Cryst. and Liq. Cryst., 2000, Vol. 340, 425–429
    Akira Yoshino
  • “Development process and the latest trend for lithium-ion battery technology in Japan (in Chinese)"
    Chinese Journal of Power Sources, 2001, Vol. 25, No. 6, 416–422
    Akira Yoshino
  • “Cathode properties of phospho-olivine LiMPO4 for lithium secondary batteries"
    Journal of Power Sources, 2001, Vol. 97–98, 430–432
    Shigeto Okada, Shoichiro Sawa, Minato Egashira, Jun-ichi Yamaki, Mitsuharu Tabuchi, Hiroyuki Kageyama, Tokuzo Konishi, Akira Yoshino
  • “Overview of carbonaceous materials for lithium-ion battery"
    Mol. Cryst. and Liq. Cryst., 2002, Vol. 388, 575–579
    Akira Yoshino

Major patents related to the LIB

Patent number Title Filing date Registration date Inventors
Japanese Patent No. 1989293 Secondary battery May 10, 1985* November 8, 1995 Akira Yoshino
Kenichi Sanechika
Takayuki Nakajima
Japanese Patent No. 2128922 Nonaqueous secondary battery May 28, 1984 May 2, 1997 Akira Yoshino
Kenichi Sanechika
Japanese Patent No. 2642206 Explosion-proof secondary battery December 28, 1989 May 2, 1997 Akira Yoshino
Kazuhiko Nakanishi
Akira Ono
Japanese Patent No. 2668678 Secondary battery November 8, 1986 July 4, 1997 Akira Yoshino
Masahiko Shikata
Japanese Patent No. 3035677 Secondary battery with safety element September 13, 1991 February 25, 2000 Akira Yoshino
Katsuhiko Inoue
USP 4,668,595 Secondary Battery May 10, 1985* May 26, 1987 Akira Yoshino
Kenichi Sanechika
Takayuki Nakajima
  • *priority date.