Dr. Michael Makepeace Thackeray is a distinguished materials chemist renowned for his pioneering contributions to advanced battery technologies. Born in Pretoria, South Africa in 1949, he earned his PhD from the University of Cape Town and conducted postdoctoral research at Oxford University under John Goodenough in the early 1980s. Following his return to South Africa, he served as Group Leader of the Ceramics Division and later as Research Manager in the Battery Technology Unit at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. In 1994, Dr. Thackeray transitioned to Argonne National Laboratory where he established himself as a leading authority in electrochemical energy storage, eventually earning the prestigious designation of Argonne Distinguished Fellow.
Dr. Thackeray's groundbreaking research has fundamentally transformed lithium-ion battery technology, most notably through his co-discovery of the manganese oxide spinel family of cathodes in the mid-1980s and his leadership in developing NMC cathode technology in 1998. His innovative approach to utilizing layered rock salt structures as precursors for lithium-stabilized manganese dioxide electrodes paved the way for significant advances in battery performance and energy density. The composite 'layered-layered' and 'layered-spinel' structures his team developed formed the basis of a broad patent portfolio, with patent protection first issued in 2005, now widely implemented in consumer electronics and electric vehicles worldwide. With over 200 publications and more than 60 patents to his name, his work has established new scientific foundations that continue to guide battery research and development across the global energy storage industry.
Beyond his direct research contributions, Dr. Thackeray provided visionary leadership as the founding director of the Center for Electrical Energy Storage, a Department of Energy Energy Frontier Research Center established in 2009, which fostered collaboration between Argonne National Laboratory, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His work catalyzed the creation of five DOE Energy Frontier Research Centers on Energy Storage in 2009, significantly expanding the national research infrastructure for battery development. Recognized for his exceptional contributions with the prestigious Fellowship of the Royal Society, Dr. Thackeray mentored generations of battery scientists and shaped research agendas that address critical energy storage challenges. Although retiring in 2019, his scientific legacy continues to influence the trajectory of sustainable energy solutions as the world increasingly adopts electrified transportation and renewable energy storage systems.
