The legendary story of the chemist

The legendary life of a chemist is full of many wonderful stories, which show the attitude, quality and spirit of scientists. The following are the legendary stories of chemists that I compiled for you. Welcome to read them.

Legendary Story of Chemist 1

On August 7th, 199, a bust of Hou Debang's white marble was completed in Nanjing Chemical Industry Company to commemorate this famous chemist who made great contributions to the development of the world's soda industry and won great honor for China.

soda ash, whose chemical name is sodium carbonate, is commonly known as soda. It is an important chemical product, widely used in making glass, soap, pulp, detergent and refining petroleum.

Soda can exist in nature, but its purity is low and its producing areas are scattered, which is far from meeting the needs of society.

In 1862, Belgian Sur was the first to make soda ash by chemical method. The main raw materials for making soda ash he used are salt and limestone. The basic method of making soda ash is: firstly, the concentrated salt solution is saturated with ammonia water, and then the carbon dioxide generated by limestone calcination reacts with the above ammoniated saturated brine to generate ammonium bicarbonate. Ammonium bicarbonate further reacts with salt to obtain sodium bicarbonate and by-product ammonium chloride. Sodium bicarbonate has low solubility. After filtration and separation, soda ash is obtained and carbon dioxide is released after heating. Carbon dioxide can be reused. Ammonium chloride can react with lime milk to produce calcium chloride and ammonia, which is collected for recycling.

This alkali production method is called Sulvi method, which monopolized the world alkali production industry for more than 7 years. The advantages of this method are: the carbon dioxide and ammonia gas generated by the reaction can be recycled, the process is simple, and the raw materials are easily available. However, it also has two fatal shortcomings: first, the utilization rate of salt is too low, only about 7%; Second, a large amount of calcium chloride generated by the reaction of ammonium chloride and lime milk is of little use, unable to be treated and even causes environmental pollution. At that time, although chemists in many countries tried to improve this method, they failed.

in October, 1921, Hou Debang returned from the United States with the ambition of developing the chemical industry of the motherland, and first built Yongli soda plant in Tanggu. At that time, it was conceivable that the international capital group monopolized the alkali-making technology and wanted to develop its own national alkali-making industry. Hou Debang eliminated all kinds of resistance, went deep into the field, practiced personally, drilled and developed alkali technology, and constantly solved the problems in equipment and technology, and finally built an alkali plant in 1924. The factory produces 18 tons of glistening soda ash every day. The completion of Tanggu soda plant broke through the international monopoly of Sulvi Group in technology and defeated the crowding out of Park Neimen Company in operation. Made in this factory? Red triangle? Spring cocoon won the gold medal of the Philadelphia World Expo in 1925, which won glory for the motherland. More importantly, through the establishment of China's soda plant, Hou Debang has achieved a complete mastery and mastery of soda production technology, laying the foundation for innovative soda production technology. In 1932, he also published the treatise "Making Alkali", which introduced Sulvi's method of making alkali completely for the first time. This book, which is proud of the Chinese nation, immediately caused a sensation in the chemical industry all over the world and was regarded by the world as the first monograph on soda production.

there is no end to science and technology, and the needs of society and production are constantly opening up the way for science and technology to advance. After the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Tianjin fell. In 1938, Hou Debang was responsible for establishing a new soda plant in Wangtongqiao, Sichuan, the mainland of China.

However, the raw material used in Tanggu Alkali Plant is sea salt, while the well salt is needed to build a factory in Sichuan. The concentration of bittern in well salt is low, and the composition is slightly different, so it is no longer appropriate to use Sulvi method. In addition, a large amount of calcium chloride produced by Sulvi process can only be piled up as waste, thus forcing Hou Debang to explore new ways. At this time, Germany invented a production method of Cha 'an soda ash. Although the technology is not mature, it can use the waste liquor of soda production to produce by-product ammonium amide, which is a great inspiration for Hou Debang. Hou Debang also visited Germany to discuss the purchase of patents, but manufacturers were not allowed to visit the site, and the conditions for purchasing patents were extremely harsh, so Hou Debang made up his mind to take the road of innovation.

In order to reform Sulvais soda production process and create its own new process, Hou Debang overcame various difficulties and set up a laboratory in Hongkong. After more than 5 tests, more than 2, samples were analyzed and tested. In view of the shortcomings of Sulvais soda production process, a new production process was conceived and designed. In order to realize this law and form productive forces, he also made concessions in new york and Shanghai? Island? The pilot test was carried out, and finally all the innovations of the new process of alkali production were successfully completed in 194.

The new alkali production method created by Hou Debang is to combine alkali production with synthetic ammonia, which is usually called combined production and subtraction. This method not only retains the advantages of Sulvi method, but also overcomes its disadvantages, which makes the alkali production method perfect. His main contribution is that after sodium bicarbonate is crystallized and filtered, salt is added to the remaining mother liquor containing ammonium chloride instead of lime milk. In this way, due to the addition of a large number of chloride ions in the solution, ammonium chloride will precipitate, and the remaining sodium ions can repeat the previous reaction to generate soda ash. In this way, soda ash and ammonium chloride (fertilizer) can be obtained at the same time as long as salt is continuously added to the mother liquor. Using this method to produce soda ash, not only the utilization rate of raw salt reaches above 96%, but also the whole production can be carried out continuously; In addition, it has a series of advantages such as saving lime and simple equipment.

Because of Hou Debang's outstanding contribution to the manufacture of soda ash, this method was named by the World Chemical Industry Association in 1941. Hou's soda process? , and has been widely praised and highly praised by the chemical community at home and abroad.

　? Hou's soda process? It is an invention named after the people of China. In our country, it is bullied by imperialism and called by others? Sick man of East Asia? At that time, the name of a China person can shine on the stage of world science, pushing the history of world soda science to a new stage, which fully shows the wisdom and strength of the Chinese nation. The legendary story of the chemist Part II < P > Karl? Sholema was born on September 3, 1834 in a family of handicraft workers in Darmstadt, Black Forest, Germany. Father John is a poor carpenter, and mother Lott is a simple housewife. They have nine children, and Carl is the oldest. In 185, Carl won an education in a vocational school in this city, but in 1853, he returned to his family and dropped out of school. He likes chemistry very much, so he came to a pharmacy as an apprentice. Because he was diligent and eager to learn, he soon became a pharmacist's right-hand man. In 1856, he came to a pharmacy in Heidelberg as a dispensing assistant. At Heidelberg University, the famous chemist Benson was giving a lecture on chemistry, and Xiao Laima tried his best to attend Benson's speech. Benson's exquisite experimental demonstration and vivid report made Xiao Laima yearn for chemistry more, and then he made up his mind. Be a chemist.

in 1859, he only relied on the money saved by himself to enter the chemistry department of Giessen University, which was presided over by the famous chemist Justus von Liebig. This was the holy land that young chemists all over the world yearned for at that time. Due to the lack of tuition, Xiao Laima left school after only one semester. Fortunately, in this semester, due to his hard work, he finished the course of analytical chemistry as the basis of experiments. Through study and training, he basically mastered the skills of chemical experiments. At the same time, during this semester, he also listened to the course of chemical history taught by the famous chemical historian Copp, and initially cultivated his interest in the history of science. Leaving school and unemployment did not affect Xiao Laima's pursuit of chemical science. At this time, it happened that Roscoe, a chemistry professor at Owens College in Manchester, England, wanted a private experimental assistant. When Xiao Laima heard the news, he immediately rushed to Britain, far away from the motherland, and came to this industrial city in England. After hard work, he finally became Roscoe's experimental assistant. He is very satisfied here. On the one hand, he can continue to study related courses of chemistry, and on the other hand, he can conduct more and independent chemical experiments. From then on, Xiao Laima finally realized his long-cherished wish and stepped into the door of chemical research. He taught himself and studied at the same time, and soon achieved many achievements.

In 1871, he was elected as a member of the Royal Society, and in 1874, he became the first professor of organic chemistry at Owens College. He lived in England for more than 3 years until his death in 1892. The legendary story of the chemist

The development of plastics can be traced back to the middle of 19th century. At that time, in order to meet the needs of the booming textile industry in Britain. Chemists mix different chemicals in the hope of making bleach and dyes. Chemists are particularly fond of coal tar, which is a curd-like waste condensed in the chimney of a factory fueled by natural gas.

William Henry Platinum, laboratory assistant of the Royal Institute of Chemistry in London, is one of the people who carried out this experiment. One day, when platinum wiped the chemical reagent spilled on the laboratory bench, it was found that the rag was dyed into a rare lavender at that time. This accidental discovery made platinum enter the dyeing industry and eventually became a millionaire.

Although the discovery of platinum is not plastic, this accidental discovery is of great significance, because it shows that man-made compounds can be obtained by controlling natural organic materials. Manufacturers have realized that many natural materials, such as wood, amber, rubber, glass, etc., are either too scarce or too expensive or not flexible enough to be mass-produced. Synthetic material is an ideal substitute, which can not only change shape under heat and pressure, but also keep shape after cooling.

Colin Williamson, founder of London Plastic History Society, said? At that time, people were faced with finding a cheap and easy-to-change substitute. ?

after platinum, another Englishman, Alexander Parks, mixed chloroform with castor oil to get a substance as hard as animal antler, which is the first artificial plastic. Parks hopes to use this artificial plastic to replace the rubber that cannot be widely used because of the cost of planting, harvesting and processing.

John Wesley Hai Ete, a blacksmith from new york, tried to make billiards with artificial materials instead of those made of ivory. Although he didn't solve this problem, he found that a material that can change its shape after heating can be obtained by mixing camphor with a certain amount of solvent. Hai Ete called this material celluloid. This new type of plastic has the characteristics of mass production by machines and unskilled workers. It brings a strong and elastic transparent material to the film industry, which can project images onto the wall.

Celuluo also promoted the great development of the home recording industry, and eventually replaced the early cylindrical records. Later plastics can be used to make vinyl records and cassette tapes; Finally, a compact disc is made of polycarbonate.

celluloid makes photography an activity with a broad market. Before George Hysmans developed celluloid, photography was a costly and tedious hobby, because photographers had to develop their own films. Hysmans came up with a new idea: the client sent the finished film to his shop, and he developed the film for the client. Celluloid is the first transparent material that can be made into thin sheets and rolled up and put into a camera.

about this time, Hysmans met a young Belgian immigrant, Leo Baekeland. Baekeland discovered a kind of printing paper that is particularly sensitive to light. Hysmans bought Baekeland's invention at a high price of $75, (equivalent to $2.5 million today). With money at hand, Baekeland built a laboratory. And invented phenolic plastics in 197.

This new material has achieved great success. The products made of phenolic plastics include telephones, insulated cables, buttons, airplane propellers, and billiards with excellent quality.

Parker Pen Company makes all kinds of fountain pens with phenolic plastics. In order to prove the firmness of phenolic plastics, the company made a public demonstration and threw the pen from the high-rise building. Time magazine devoted a cover article to introduce the inventor of phenolic plastics and this kind of technology. Using materials thousands of times?

several years later, DuPont's laboratory also made another breakthrough by accident: it made nylon, a product called artificial silk. In 193, Wallace carothers, a scientist working in the laboratory of DuPont Company, immersed a heated glass rod in a long molecular organic compound and obtained a very elastic material. Although the clothes made of early nylon melted under the high temperature of the iron, its inventor carothers continued his research. About eight years later, DuPont introduced nylon.

Nylon has been widely used in the field, and articles such as parachutes and shoelaces are made of nylon. But women's enthusiastic users of nylon. On May 15th, 194, American women snapped up 5 million pairs of nylon stockings produced by DuPont. Nylon stockings is in short supply, and some businessmen began to pretend to be nylon stockings with silk stockings.

But the success story of nylon has a tragic ending: its inventor carothers committed suicide by taking cyanide. Steven Fennichel, author of Plastic, said? After reading carothers's diary, I got the impression that carothers was very depressed that the materials he invented were used to produce socks for women. He is a scholar, which makes him feel unbearable. ? He thinks people will think that his main achievement is just inventing a kind of? Ordinary commercial products? .

While DuPont is intoxicated with the fact that its products are widely loved by people. The British discovered many uses of plastics in the military field during the war. This discovery was also made by accident. Scientists in the laboratory of Royal Chemical Industry Company found a white waxy deposit at the bottom of the test tube during an unrelated experiment. After testing, it is found that this material is an excellent insulating material. Its characteristics are different from those of glass, and radar waves can pass through it. Scientists call it polyethylene, and use it to build a shelter for the radar station to meet the wind and rain, so that the radar can still capture the enemy aircraft in rainy and foggy weather conditions.

Williamson of the Plastic History Society said? There are two factors that push the invention of plastics forward. One factor is the desire to make money, and the other is war. ? However, it was the following decades that made plastics truly become what Finnichel called? Synthetic material century? The symbol of. In the 195s, household products such as food containers, water jugs and soap boxes made of plastic appeared. Inflatable chairs appeared in the 196 s. In the 197s, environmentalists pointed out that plastics could not degrade by themselves. People's enthusiasm for plastic products has declined.

however, in the 198s and 199s, due to the huge demand for plastics in the automobile and computer manufacturing industries, plastics further consolidated its position. It is impossible to deny this ubiquitous ordinary substance. Fifty years ago, the world could only produce tens of thousands of tons of plastics every year; Today, the world's annual plastic production exceeds 1 million tons. The annual output of plastics in the United States exceeds the combined output of steel, aluminum and copper.