Stockholm: Three researchers on Wednesday won the Nobel Chemistry Prize for the development of lithium-ion batteries, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.
John Goodenough of the US - at 97 the oldest person to be awarded a Nobel prize - Britain's Stanley Whittingham and Japan's Akira Yoshino will share the nine million Swedish kronor (about USD 914,000) prize sum equally.
"This lightweight, rechargeable and powerful battery is now used in everything from mobile phones to laptops and electric vehicles... (and) can also store significant amounts of energy from solar and wind power, making possible a fossil fuel-free society," the jury said.
"Lithium batteries have revolutionised our lives since they first entered the market in 1991," it said, adding they were "of the greatest benefit to humankind".
The three will receive the prize from King Carl XVI Gustaf at a formal ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of the 1896 death of scientist Alfred Nobel who created the awards in his last will.
The Literature Prize will follow on Thursday, with two laureates to be crowned after a sexual harassment scandal forced the Swedish Academy to postpone the 2018 award, for the first time in 70 years.
The Economics Prize will wrap up the Nobel prize season on Monday, October 14.