Moissan
Achievements: Isolated fluorine and the electric furnace.
Born: September 28, 1852; Paris, France
Died: February 20, 1907; Paris, France (Aged 55)
Field & Discipline: Science; Chemistry; Chemist
Language: French
Education: Ecole Superieure de Pharmacie (1879)
Major Work:
“Le Four Electrique” (1897, “The Electric Furnace”)
“Le Fluor” (1914, “Fluorine”)
Life & Times:
Moissan wanted to qualify as a pharmacist and in 1872 he left his job and became a laboratory assistant at the Natural History Museum. He gave private lessons to pay the bills and in 1874 transferred to the laboratory of Pierre-Paul Deherain who encouraged him to study for a degree. Moissan was interested in inorganic chemistry and although he co-operated with Deherain on a study of plant respiration he also conducted experiments on oxides of iron and other metals, particularly the compounds of chromium. By 1879 he had achieved his ambition and was qualified at a pharmacist.
In 1880 he received his doctorate from the Faculte des Sciences. Marriage to the daughter of a fellow chemist in 1882 gave Moissan financial security. In 1884 he began the work on fluorine for which he is known today. Fluorine in the form of its compounds had long been known. It was included in the group of elements known as the halogens (or salt producers) because its salts appeared similar Fluorine, however, was a toxic substance, chemically very active, and previous attempts to isolate had failed.
In 1886 Moissan was appointed professor of toxicology at the Ecole Superieure de Pharmacie a. In the same year, he added potassium acid fluoride to the anhydrous hydrofluoric acid and converted the latter into a conductor. By this means, he isolated fluorine gas.
In 1888 he was elected to the Academy of Sciences. Over the following years, he conducted investigations into the combination of fluorine with other substances, included the compounds of fluorine with carbon. He was hoping that by using the energy of fluorine the carbon would separate in the crystalline form of diamond. He managed to get two combinations of carbon and fluorine but when they decomposed they left him with common carbon.
Diamond, like graphite and lampblack, is a form of carbon and it was easy to convert diamond into one of the other forms of carbon by strongly heating it. However, it did not seem possible to reverse this process. In order to conduct his experiments on carbon, Moissan needed to heat the carbon at very high temperatures. To do this, he invented an electric furnace. In 1892 he demonstrated his first model before the Academy of Sciences. It consisted of two blocks of lime with horizontal cavities for carbon electrodes which produced a high-temperature electric arc. The two lime blocks enclosed a crucible in which he was able to obtain temperatures of around 4000 degrees Centigrade.
In one of his experiments, Moissan heated pure iron mixed with carbon obtained from calcinated cane sugar. The carbon dissolved in the molten iron and was then plunged into cold water. This meant that the outer surface of the iron cooled more quickly than the inside and it exerted great pressure on the inside of the mixture. The residue was in the form of microscopic particles which had the characteristic hardness of diamond and appeared to have its crystalline structure.
Moissan was believed at the time to have produced diamonds but this was in fact first achieved by [work related to] Acheson* in the United States.
In 1890 Moissan was appointed to the chair of inorganic chemistry at the Faculty of Sciences. He continued to use his electric furnace for research into other metals which he was able to liquify and volatilize, and into combinations of the elements with carbon, boron and silicon to form carbides, borides and silicides. His most significant work in this area was the preparation of calcium carbide which in the presence of water yields acetylene gas.
In 1897 he collaborated with the British chemist [collaborated with] Dewar* on liquefying gases. Moissan’s work was of great value to industry and his work on acetylene was followed by that of the American [work related to] Nieuwland* and the chemists of DuPoint. He received many foreign honors and in 1906 was awarded the Nobel prize for chemistry. Moissan died after an acute attack of appendicitis in 1907.
Extra Connections: His work foreshadowed that of [anticipated] Klatte*
He provided [supplied] Marie Curie* with uranium
He used the dynamo developed by [used dynamo of] Gramme*
Assessment: Moissan was a major contributor to the development of inorganic science.
Oneliner: Henri Moissan, who isolated fluorine
Bibliography:
- Harrow, Benjamin, Eminent Chemists of Our Time, Fisher Unwin Ltd., London, 1921.
- Ihde, Aaron J, The Development of Modern Chemistry, Harper & Row, New York and London, 1964.
Father: Unknown
Mother: Unknown
Siblings: Unknown
Spouse: Leonie Lugan
Children: Louis