Michael Makepeace Thackeray (born in 1949) is a South African chemist and battery materials researcher. He is mainly known for his work on electrochemically active cathode materials. In the mid-1980s he co-discovered the

manganese Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...

oxide

spinel Spinel () is the magnesium/aluminium member of the larger spinel group of minerals. It has the formula in the cubic crystal system. Its name comes from the Latin word , a diminutive form of ''spine,'' in reference to its pointed crystals. Prop ...

family of cathodes for

lithium ion batteries A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that uses the reversible intercalation of Li+ ions into electronically conducting solids to store energy. Li-ion batteries are characterized by higher specific energy, energy d ...

while working in the lab of

John Goodenough John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. In 1998, while at

Argonne National Laboratory Argonne National Laboratory is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Lemont, Illinois, Lemont, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1946, the laboratory is owned by the United Sta ...

, he led a team that first reported the

NMC NMC may refer to: Education Institutions * National Music Conservatory, Amman, Jordan * Nehru Memorial College, Sullia, Sullia, Karnataka, India * New Method College, a defunct secondary school in Hong Kong * Northern Marianas College, US Maria ...

cathode technology. Patent protection around the concept and materials were first issued in 2005 to

to a team with Thackeray, Khalil Amine, Jaekook Kim, and Christopher Johnson. The reported invention is now widely used in consumer electronics and electric vehicles.

Career

Thackeray obtained his M.Sc and Ph.D. in Chemistry at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. After University, he worked for the CSIR of South Africa from 1973 to 1977 as a researcher in the National Physical Research Laboratory in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

. From 1981-82, as well as in 1985, he worked with

at the

. In 1983 Thackeray returned to CSIR as Group Leader of the Ceramics Division and in 1988 was named a Research Manager in the Battery Technology Unit. In 1994, Thackeray moved to the Chemical Technology Division at

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where he was named Group Leader of the Battery Materials Group within the Electrochemical Energy Storage Department. He was the founding director of the Center for Electrochemical Energy Science (CEES), a

Department of Energy A ministry of energy or department of energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rela ...

Energy Frontier Research Center, where he oversaw research to understand lithium-air storage chemistry, polymerized cathode coatings, and cathode surface stability. He retired in 2019. Thackeray has co-authored more than 200 publications, and he holds more than 60 patents. He was elected Fellow of

The Electrochemical Society The Electrochemical Society is a learned society (professional association) based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of electrochemistry solid-state science and related technology. The Society membership comprises ...

in 2014 and

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 2022. He received the Electrochemical Society Battery Division Research Award in 2005, the Yeager Award of International Battery Association in 2011 and the International Battery Association Medal of Excellence in 2019.

References

External links

Michael Thackeray, Argonne experts page, Retrieved am 17.05.2012

Announcement of Hydro-Québec and Technifin, Retrieved 17.05.2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thackeray, Michael M. Living people Fellows of the Royal Society Academics of the University of Oxford South African chemists Argonne National Laboratory people University of Cape Town alumni 1949 births