Chemistry, history electrochemistry

Applying the methods of ab initio quantum chemistry to electrochemistry has a more recent history than their application to such fields as gas-phase chemistry or organic chemistry. This is undoubtedly related to the inherent complexity of the electrochemical interface. One of the main reasons for the recent upsurge in using ab initio quantum chemistry in modeling electrochemical interfaces is the degree of success that has been achieved in applying ab initio quantum-chemical methods to processes and reactions at metal-gas interfaces (for recent reviews in this area, see Refs.4-7). This has motivated many theoretically inclined electrochemists to use similar methods and ideas to model adsorption and reactions at electrified metal-liquid interfaces, and has also attracted theoreticians from the field of surface science to electrochemistry. 

Marco Fontani received his undergraduate degree in materials chemistry from the University of Florence and subsequently his doctorate in the chemical sciences at the University of Perugia. In 2003, he joined the Department of Organic Chemistry at the University of Florence. He is the author of over 100 papers in materials chemistry, organometallic chemistry, and electrochemistry, as well as in the history of chemistry. 

Chemical effects of rays and particles Electrochemistry Physical chemistry of surfaces Colloidal and disperse states Mineral chemistry History. General... 

See John Servos on the relation of physical chemistry to industry, in Physical Chemistry from Ostwald to Pauling. Also see G. Dubpemell and J. H. Westbrook, eds., Selected Topics in the History of Electrochemistry, Proceedings of the Electrochemical Society 78 (Princeton Electrochemical Society, 1978). 

Historical introductions to chemistry courses and citations in journal articles provided ample opportunity for scientists to trace family lines to suit the discipline-building task at hand and to set up a record for later historians. Ostwald made sure to settle his name into a progeny of physical chemists in his history of electrochemistry. Later, Ingold minimized the historical role of contemporary rivals by spare citations to work well known at the time. 

The experimental practice of electrochemistry has a long history. For example, more than 200 years have passed since Volta first looked at the twitching of animal tissues in response to the application of an electric impulse. The literature of electrochemistry was huge even before the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (lUPAC) first deliberated in a systematic code of electrochemical symbols in 1953. Accordingly, many of the lUPAC recommendations will not be followed here. 

The history of electrochemistry received a welcome boost in 1988 when a symposium entitled Electrochemistry Past and Present was held at the third Chemical Congress of North America at Toronto. The published proceedings contain papers describing the historical development of many electroanalytical techniques.74 Kolthoff has given an account of the state of electroanalytical chemistry prior to World War II based on personal experience.75... 

Physical chemistry, in the hands of the ionists, looked above all at questions of equilibrium and yield, using chemical thermodynamics. But physical chemistry, as the ionists were well aware, was more than the study of equilibrium and yield, and more too than the study of electrolysis. Chemical kinetics, the study of reaction rates, of the speed with which reactions take place, also has an important and early place in the history of physical chemistry. And, just as electrochemistry began well before the clear assertion of the discipline of physical chemistry, so too did chemical kinetics. 

Refs. [i] Zott R (2003) Angew Chem Int Ed 42 3990 [ii] (1966) Nobel lectures, chemistry 1901-1921. Elsevier, Amsterdam [iii] Ostwald W (1896) Elektrochemie. Ihre Geschichte und Lehre, Veit Comp, Leipzig (Engl transl Ostwald W (1980) Electrochemistry. History and theory, 2 vols. Amerind Publ, New Delhi)... 

In the twenty years since the appearance of our first edition, the fields of electrochemistry and electroanalytical chemistry have evolved substantially. An improved understanding of phenomena, the further development of experimental tools already known in 1980, and the introduction of new methods have all been important to that evolution. In the preface to the 1980 edition, we indicated that the focus of electrochemical research seemed likely to shift from the development of methods toward their application in studies of chemical behavior. By and large, history has justified that view. There have also been important changes in practice, and our 1980 survey of methodology has become dated. In this new edition, we have sought to update the book in a way that will extend its value as a general introduction to electrochemical methods. 

Ionic conductivity in polymer-based, water-containing, solid systems has been with us for a long time. A review of that history, which is intimately associated with the history of analytical electrochemistry and the physical chemistry of electrolyte solutions, will help to put the present work into perspective. 

Van t Hoff was succeeded in Utrecht by Ernst Julius Cohen (Amsterdam, 7 March 1869-Auschwitz, 5 March 1944), who worked on allotropes of tin and antimony, metastability, electrochemistry and piezochemistry, and wrote on the history of chemistry. ... 

Michael Faraday (1791-1867) was a British chemist and physicist (he considered himself a natural philosopher) who made enormous contributions to electromagnetism and electrochemistry. He is widely regarded as the greatest experimentalist in the history of science. It was largely due to his efforts that electricity became viable for use in technology. The SI unit of capacitance (the farad) is named after him, as is the Faraday Constant (the charge on a mole of electrons, about 96485 coulombs). He made many discoveries in chemistry, including benzene, and invented a system of oxidation numbers of the elements. 

For a concise overview of the influence of electrochemistry on the practice of analytical chemistry, the relevant section of the American Chemical Society monograph, A History of Analytical Chemistry, is hard to beat ( ). The account deals both with techniques and with persons. One of the contributors is Emeritus Professor I. M. Kolthoff, very much a maker of history and also the scientific ancestor of generations of electroanalytical chemists. Through him we have, as a bonus, a direct linkage with Arrhenius, Haber, Nernst, and other scientific giants of the past. 

The types of corrosion (i.e., the morphology of attack and the oxidation process) that can be encountered in organic liquids are the same as those observed in aqueous solutions. The solution chemistry and solution electrochemistry may be different, but the types of fundamental corrosion processes that occur remain the same. An excellent review of examples of corrosion in various organic solutions can be found in the work of Heitz [2]. In addition to a review of the fundamental principles involved, Heitz critically evaluates the literature published before 1973 and describes a number of industrial case histories of component failures due to... 

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