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Mercouri Kanatzidis is a Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University and Senior Scientist at Argonne National Laboratory. Kanatzidis was listed as one of the most cited researchers in Materials Science and Engineering in 2016 based on Elsevier Scopus data.
Kanatzidis has developed synthesis methodologies for the design and discovery of new chalcogenide materials and intermetallics. He is known for the elaboration of flux synthesis techniques which allow reactions to proceed at lower temperatures than otherwise would and can lead to new structures and compositions. From his research, metal sulfide ion-exchangers have been discovered. They are effective materials in heavy metal remediation of industrial waste waters. Kanatzidis’ ideas on nanostructured thermoelectrics have had a strong impact in thermoelectric research and these ideas are now the new paradigm followed by researchers worldwide. He developed effective strategies for achieving “nanostructuring” in bulk thermoelectric semiconductors. He has interests in the synthetic design and prediction of new phases especially those that can cause disruptive changes in scientific thinking and in technology. The bulk of his work is described in the more than 850 research publications and over 20 patents.
He was born in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1957. In 1979, Mercouri Kanatzidis graduated the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki with a BA in Chemistry and in 1984 he received his doctorate in Chemistry from the University of Iowa in the United States. He worked as Professor of Chemistry in the University of Michigan and since 2006, he has been Professor of Northwestern University of Illinois. Moreover, he is top researcher in the Department of Material Science of the US Argonne National Laboratory. Kanatzidis has received numerous distinctions and is a member of the American Chemistry Council and other scientific foundations.
In 2012, as head of a group of American scientists, Kanatzidis discovered a new material, breaking all past records in transforming waste heat. According to scientists, the pioneering material renders the highest possible efficiency in absorbing heat from a source and converting it to electrical energy. Under the lead of Mercouri Kanatzidis, the scientific team developed a material, an enhanced derivative of the well-known lead-telluride semiconductor, first used by the Apollo spaceship crew as a renewable source of thermoelectrical energy.
According to Dr Kanatzidis, his recent discovery offers a realistic perspective of environment-friendly waste heat recovery and conversion of energy, as the lead-telluride bonding is an environmentally stable mineral found in nature under the name altaita. The study and results of the new material research were published on the international journal of science Nature.
Kanatzidis has been named a Presidential Young Investigator by the National Science Foundation, an Alfred P Sloan Fellow, a Beckman Young Investigator, a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teaching Scholar, a Guggenheim Fellow and in 2003 was awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Prize. In 2014 he received the Einstein Professor Award, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the International Thermoelectric Society Outstanding Achievement Award; and the MRS Medal.
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Greek scientist awarded by the American Chemical Society
[In 1979, Mercouri Kanantzidis graduated the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki with a BA in Chemistry and in 1984 he received his doctorate in Chemistry from the University of Iowa in the United States.
He worked as Professor of Chemistry in the University of Michigan and since 2006, he has been Professor of Northwestern University of Illinois. Moreover, he is top researcher in the Department of Material Science of the US Argonne National Laboratory. Kanantzidis has received numerous distinctions and is a member of the American Chemistry Council and other scientific foundations.
In 2012, as head of a group of American scientists, Kanantzidis discovered a new material, breaking all past records in transforming waste heat. According to scientists, the pioneering material renders the highest possible efficiency in absorbing heat from a source and converting it to electrical energy.
Under the lead of Mercouri Kanantzidis, the scientific team developed a material, an enhanced derivative of the well-known lead-telluride semiconductor, first used by the Apollo spaceship crew as a renewable source of thermoelectrical energy.
According to Dr Kanantzidis, his recent discovery offers a realistic perspective of environment-friendly waste heat recovery and conversion of energy, as the lead-telluride bonding is an environmentally stable mineral found in nature under the name altaita.
The study and results of the new material research were published on the international journal of science Nature.
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