Richard Adolf Zsigmondy (Hungarian:Zsigmondy Richárd Adolf; 1 April 1865 – 23 September 1929) was an Austrian-bornchemist. He was known for his research incolloids, for which he was awarded theNobel Prize in Chemistry in 1925, as well as for co-inventing the slit-ultramicroscope,[1] and differentmembrane filters. The craterZsigmondy on the Moon is named in his honour.
Zsigmondy was born inVienna,Austrian Empire, to aHungarian gentry family. His mother Irma Szakmáry, a poet born inMartonvásár, and his father,Adolf Zsigmondy Sr., a scientist fromPressburg (Pozsony, today'sBratislava) who invented several surgical instruments for use in dentistry. Zsigmondy family members were Lutherans. They originated from Johannes (Hungarian:János) Sigmondi (1686–1746,Bártfa,Kingdom of Hungary) and included teachers, priests and Hungarian freedom-fighters. Richard was raised by his mother after his father's early death in 1880, and received a comprehensive education. He enjoyed hobbies such asclimbing andmountaineering with his siblings. His elder brothers,Otto (a dentist) andEmil (a physician), were well-known mountain climbers; his younger brother,Karl Zsigmondy, became a notable mathematician in Vienna. In high school, Richard developed an interest in natural science, especially in chemistry and physics, and experimented in his home laboratory.
In 1885 Zsigmondy published his very first article as a joint publication with his Viennese professorRudolf Benedikt on a method of determiningglycerin. His 1887 articleNeue Lüster und Farben auf Glas (about colours on glass) marked the beginning of a research area on which he would work for another 30 years.[3] Zsigmondy left organic chemistry to join the physics group ofAugust Kundt at theUniversity of Berlin.
In July 1892 Zsigmondy held a colloquium atGraz University of Technology assessed among others byAlbert von Ettingshausen andFriedrich Emich in order to qualify as assistant professor.[5] There he also completed hishabilitation in 1893.[1] Because of his knowledge about glass and its colouring, in 1897 theSchott Glass factory offered him a job which he accepted. He invented the Jenaer Milchglas and conducted some research on the redRuby glass. Lecturing activities in Graz were documented until 1899.[6]
Zsigmondy left Schott Glass in 1900, but remained in Jena as private lecturer to conduct his research. Together with the optical instrument manufacturerZeiss, he developed the slitultramicroscope. His scientific career continued in 1908 at theUniversity of Göttingen, where he stayed for the rest of his professional career as professor of inorganic chemistry. In 1925, Zsigmondy received theNobel Prize for Chemistry for his work on colloids and the methods he used, such as theultramicroscope upon which based his investigation on thePurple of Cassius.
Before Zsigmondy finished his PhD thesis in organic chemistry, he published research on colouring glass withsilver salts and dissolved silver particles, which he recovered by dissolving the glass inhydrofluoric acid.
Vintage cranberry glass bowl
During his stay in Graz, Zsigmondy accomplished his most notable research work, on the chemistry ofcolloids. The exact mechanism which yields the red colour of theCranberry orRuby glass was a result of his studies of colloids.[7]
In later years he worked on goldhydrosols and used them to characterizeprotein solutions. While in Jena, he developed the slitultramicroscope together withHenry Siedentopf. After moving to Göttingen, Zsigmondy improved his optical equipment for the observation of finest nanoparticles suspended in liquid solution. As a result, he introduced the immersion ultramicroscope in 1912.[8]
Together withWilhelm Bachmann, Zsigmondy developed a new membrane filter (1916).[9] He later transferred his patents to a company established by him, other shareholders andSartorius AG which wasincorporated to Sartorius in the late 1970s.[10][11]
In 1903 Zsigmondy married Laura Luise Müller, with whom he had two daughters, Annemarie and Käthe.
Richard Zsigmondy died due to his arteriosclerosis only a few months after retiring from his university position in Göttingen in early March.[12][4][13]
He was a cousin of the architectFrigyes Schulek, whose mother was Auguszta Zsigmondy. He is also related to the violinistDénes Zsigmondy.
Corresponding member of the Academia de Ciencias de Zaragoza,[16][17] theAustrian Academy of Sciences and academies/academic societies in Valencia and Harlem.[12]
Honorary doctorates of TU Wien (1917),[18] Graz University of Technology (1928),[19] and the medical faculty of theUniversity of Königsberg.[12]
Title page toZur Erkenntnis der Kolloide. Uber irreversible Hydrosole und Ultramikroskopie (1905)Zsigmondy, R. (1905).Zur Erkenntnis der Kolloide. Über irreversible Hydrosole und Ultramikroskopie. Jena: Gustav Fischer.OL1473920W.
Zsigmondy, R. (1907).Über Kolloid-Chemie mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der anorganischen Kolloide. Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth.
H. Freundlich (1930). "Richard Zsigmondy zum 60. Geburtstage".Berichte der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft.63 (11):A171 –A175.doi:10.1002/cber.19300631144.
