Christian Friedrich Schönbein | |
|---|---|
 Christian Friedrich Schönbein | |
| Born | (1799-10-18)18 October 1799 |
| Died | 29 August 1868(1868-08-29) (aged 68) |
| Citizenship | Germany,Switzerland |
| Known for | Fuel cell,ozone,guncotton |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of Basel |
Christian Friedrich SchönbeinHFRSE (18 October 1799 – 29 August 1868) was a German-Swisschemist who is best known for inventing thefuel cell (1838)[1] at the same time asWilliam Robert Grove and his discoveries ofguncotton[2] andozone.[3][4] He also created the concept ofgeochemistry in 1838.[5]
Schönbein (Schoenbein) related to Michael Schoenbein was born atMetzingen in theDuchy of Württemberg. Around the age of 13 he was apprenticed to a chemical and pharmaceutical firm atBöblingen. Through his own efforts, he acquired sufficient scientific skills and knowledge to ask for, and receive, an examination by the professor of chemistry atTübingen. Schönbein passed the exam and, after a series of moves and university studies, eventually acquired a position at theUniversity of Basel in 1828, becoming a full professor in 1835. He remained there until his death in 1868, and was buried in Basel.[6]
In 1839, Schönbein published the principle of thefuel cell in the "Philosophical Magazine".[7]
While doing experiments on theelectrolysis ofwater at the University of Basel, Schönbein first began to notice a distinctive odor in his laboratory.[8] This smell gave Schönbein the clue to the presence of a new product from his experiments. Because of the pronounced smell, Schönbein coined the term "ozone" for the new gas, from the Greek word "ozein", meaning "to smell". Schönbein described his discoveries in publications in 1840.[9] He later found that the smell of ozone was similar to that produced by the slow oxidation of whitephosphorus.[10]
The ozone smell Schönbein detected is the same as that occurring in the vicinity of lightning storms, an odor that indicates the presence of ozone in the atmosphere.[4]
Although his wife had forbidden him to do so, Schönbein occasionally experimented at home in the kitchen. One day in 1845, when his wife was away, he spilled a mixture ofnitric acid andsulfuric acid. After using his wife'scotton apron to mop it up, he hung the apron over the stove to dry, only to find that the cloth spontaneously ignited and burned so quickly that it seemed to disappear. Schönbein, in fact, had converted thecellulose of the apron, with thenitro groups (added from the nitric acid) serving as an internal source ofoxygen; when heated, the cellulose was completely and suddenlyoxidized.
Schönbein recognized the possibilities of the new compound. Ordinary blackgunpowder, which had reigned supreme in the battlefield for the past 500 years, exploded into thick smoke, blackening the gunners, fouling cannons and small arms, and obscuring the battlefield. Nitrocellulose was perceived as a possible "smokeless powder" and a propellant forartilleryshells thus it received the name ofguncotton.
Attempts to manufacture guncotton for military use failed at first because the factories were prone to explode and, above all else, the burning speed of straight guncotton was always too high. It was not until 1884 thatPaul Vieille tamed guncotton into a successful progressivesmokeless gunpowder calledPoudre B. Later on, in 1891,James Dewar andFrederick Augustus Abel also managed to transform gelatinized guncotton into a safe mixture, calledcordite because it could be extruded into long thin cords before being dried.
In 1990 anasteroid was named after him.[11]
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