REVIEW ARTICLE

 

Twenty golden years of battery R&D at CSIR, 1974-1994

 

 

Michael Thackeray^*

Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA

 

 

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ABSTRACT

This paper is a personal reflection of 20 years of sodium- and lithium-based battery R&D in South Africa between 1974 and 1994. The impact of the innovative materials science and engineering research conducted during this period is highlighted by the later successful implementation of batteries in powering practical systems, as well as in technology licensing.

Keywords: CSIR, battery, Zebra, sodium-metal chloride, sodium-sulphur, LiAl/FeS_x, lithium-ion, spinel

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Full text available only in pdf format.

 

Acknowledgements

Several colleagues and acquaintances have expressed interest in learning about the history of South African battery research that was initiated at CSIR approximately 35 years ago - this paper is the result. Roy Galloway (formerly at CSIR, South Africa and Beta R&D, UK) and Jim Sudworth (formerly at Beta R&D, UK) of General Electric are thanked for proof-reading the manuscript and providing input to the Zebra battery narrative. Professor Alan Morris of the University of Cape Town is thanked for valuable discussions. Support to write this article from the Office of Vehicle Technologies, U.S. Department of Energy, is gratefully acknowledged.

The submitted manuscript has been created by UChicago Argonne, LLC, Operator of Argonne National Laboratory ('Argonne'). Argonne, a US Department of Energy Office of Science laboratory, is operated under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. The US Government retains for itself, and others acting on its behalf, a paid-up, nonexclusive, irrevocable worldwide license in said article to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies to the public, and perform publicly and display publicly, by or on behalf of the Government.

 

References (only US or Japan patents cited for brevity)

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Received 20 June 2011
Accepted 30 June 2011

 

 

Submitted by invitation to celebrate 2011 the 'International Year of Chemistry'.
* E-mail: thackeray@anl.gov