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Chemist, photochemist (1785?1822)
Freiherr Christian Johann Dietrich
Theodor von Grotthuss
(20 January 1785 ? 26 March 1822) was a
Baltic German
scientist known for establishing the first theory of
electrolysis
in 1806 and formulating the first law of
photochemistry
in 1817.
[1]
His theory of
electrolysis
is considered the first description of the so-called
Grotthuss mechanism
.
[2]
Life and work
[
edit
]
Grotthuss was born in 1785 in
Leipzig
,
Electorate of Saxony
,
Holy Roman Empire
, during an extended stay of his parents away from their home in northern
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
. He showed interest in natural sciences and went to study first in
Leipzig
and later in
Paris
at the
Ecole Polytechnique
. Several renowned scientists taught at the Ecole Polytechnique at that time, including
Antoine Francois, comte de Fourcroy
,
Claude Louis Berthollet
and
Louis Nicolas Vauquelin
.
Because of some tensions in the relations between Russia and France, Grotthuss had to leave for
Italy
where he stayed at Naples for one year. The discovery of the first
electric cell
in 1800 by
Alessandro Volta
provided the scientists a source of electricity which was used in various laboratory experiments around Europe. The electrolysis of water, acids and salt solutions was reported, but a good explanation was missing. Grotthuss actively contributed to this area both in terms of electrolysis experiments and their interpretation. During his stay in Italy, he published his work on electrolysis in 1806.
[1]
His idea that the charge is not transported by the movement of particles but by breaking and reformation of bonds was the first basically correct concept for the charge transport in
electrolytes
; it is still valid for the charge transport in water, and the current proton hopping mechanism is a modified version of the original
Grotthuss mechanism
.
[3]
The following two years Grotthuss spent in
Rome
, some other Italian cities, and Paris, and then went back to Russia via
Munich
and
Vienna
. From 1808 on he lived at the estate of his mother in northern Lithuania. There he conducted research on electricity and light with the limited research equipment he could assemble. Grotthuss committed
suicide
in the spring of 1822 during a depression caused by health problems.
[4]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Stradins, J. (1975). "Theodore von Grotthuss, 1785-1822".
Gesnerus
.
32
(3?4): 322?8.
PMID
1107157
.
- Krik?topaitis, Juozas Al. (2003).
"In the Wake of Volta's Challenge: The Electrolysis Theory of Theodor Grotthuss, 1805"
(PDF)
. In Bevilacqua, Fabio; Fragonese, Lucio (eds.).
Nuova Voltiana: Studies on Volta and His Times
. Vol. 5. Universita degli studi di Pavia.
ISBN
9788820332730
.
- Ostwald, Wilhelm (1896).
Electrochemistry History and Theory
. Vol. 1. Leipzig: Verlag von Veit and Company.
- See pages 296 ? 306 and 342 ? 344 in volume 1 of the 1980 English translation (Amerind Publishing Company, New Delhi, N. P. Date, translator)
- Ronge, Grete (1966),
"Grotthuß, Theodor Freiherr von"
,
Neue Deutsche Biographie
(in German), vol. 7, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 171?172
- Eugen Lommel
(1879), "
Grotthuß, Theodor Freiherr von
",
Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie
(in German), vol. 9, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, p. 767
- Jaselskis, Bruno, Carl Moore, Alfred von Smolink. "Theodor von Grotthuss (1785 - 1822)-- A Trail Blazer," Bulletin of History of Chemistry, vol. 32 no. 2 (2007), pp. 119 ? 128.
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