Electrochemical Society honors Thackeray

Michael Thackeray of Argonne National Laboratory is the recipient of the 2005 Research Award of the Battery Division of the Electrochemical Society.

Thackeray will receive the award during the Battery Division Luncheon and Business Meeting in October, when he will present an award address summarizing his career as a leading researcher in the field of lithium-ion batteries.

The award was established in 1958 to recognize outstanding contributions to the science and technology of primary and secondary cells and batteries and fuel cells. The award includes a prize of $1,000.

Thackeray was born and educated in South Africa. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1977 from the University of Cape Town and studied as a postdoctoral student at Oxford University. From 1973 to 1994, he was employed at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa, where he initiated his research on the structural and electrochemical properties of solid electrode and electrolyte materials for battery systems.

He joined Argonne in 1994 and is currently a senior scientist and a group leader responsible for materials development in the Battery Department of Argonne's Electrochemical Technology Program in the Chemical Engineering Division.

His research has focused on the structural and electrochemical characterization of silver-iodide-based solid electrolytes and the compositional and structural design of several transition-metal oxides, particularly manganese oxides, for rechargeable lithium battery applications. He has also spearheaded the research of a new class of intermetallic negative electrodes that operate by reversible lithium insertion/metal displacement reactions.

Thackeray has more than 160 research publications and holds 24 patents, some of which have led to the international commercialization of battery materials. Earlier this year, he was recognized on the commemorative wall at Africa's first internationally accredited science park — The Innovation Hub, South Africa — for contributions as a South African to world science and technology.