Richard Adolf Zsigmondy

Richard ZSIGMONDY, full name Richard Adolf Zsigmondy ( born April 1, 1865 in Vienna, † 23 or September 24, 1929 in Göttingen ) was an Austrian chemist of Hungarian descent and researchers in the field of colloid chemistry and microscopy.

Curriculum vitae

ZSIGMONDY began in 1883 to study chemical engineering at the kk Technical University of Vienna, where he took off in 1885, the first state examination. In 1887 he moved to the University of Munich, where he received his doctorate in 1889. He also served as private assistant in Munich (1889 ) and Berlin ( 1890-1892 ) and from 1893 to 1897 assistant at the Technical University of Graz, where he received his habilitation.

From 1897 to 1900 he worked as a research assistant at the Schott Glassworks in Jena, where he developed the now famous Jena milk glass and several patents acquired.

From 1900 to 1907 he lived as a private scholar in Jena. In 1907 he retired with his family on his property in Terlago at Trent back, and from 1908 until his death in 1929 he was Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Göttingen. His grave is located at the city cemetery Göttingen, on the outside of him more Nobel laureates are still buried.

His brothers Emil and Otto were well-known mountaineer. His daughter Anne Marie was married to the chemist Erich Hückel.

According to him, the Richard ZSIGMONDY Fellowship of the collagen society was named.

Scientific achievements

Together with the physicist Henry Siedentopf ( Zeiss ) he constructed an ultra-microscope, a special version of a dark field microscope. He created through improvement of this microscope 1912, the immersion ultra-microscope, with which he could make particles with the size of a millionth of a millimeter (nanometers) visible.

ZSIGMONDY presented to a system of three orders of magnitude for the division of substances in solvents: microns, ultramicrons and amicrons.

In order to make the amicrons visible, he developed the so-called germ method.

In 1916 he invented together with Wilhelm Bachmann the membrane filter and ultra-fine filter. With this groundbreaking work, in cooperation with the firm de Haen Seelze and with the Göttingen the Sartorius works, he created the conditions for the leadership of Germany in membrane technology.

His research was also for biology and medicine of particular importance, since it resulted from her that the protoplasm has all the characteristics and changes of colloidal solutions.

Honors

ZSIGMONDY received in 1925 (awarded 1926) the Nobel Prize in Chemistry " for the elucidation of the heterogeneous nature of colloidal solutions and for the methods used, which are fundamental to modern colloid chemistry."

In 1956 in Vienna Simmering ( 11th district ) was named the Zsigmondygasse after him.

Works

  • To the knowledge of the colloids, 1905
  • About colloid chemistry with special reference to inorganic colloids, 1907
  • Colloid Chemistry, 1912
  • About the Technical Gas Analysis, 1920 ( with G. Jander )
  • About the colloidal gold, 1925 ( with A. Thiessen )
September 23 Interface and colloid science Schott AG Trento Emil Zsigmondy Ultramicroscope Sartorius AG Digital Object Identifier Integrated Authority File
681316
de