Carl Auer von Welsbach
Encyclopedia
Carl Auer Freiherr von Welsbach (1 September 1858 - 4 August 1929) was an Austrian
scientist
and inventor who had a talent for not only discovering advances, but turning them into commercially successful products. He is particularly well known for his work on rare earth element
s, which led to the development of the flint
used in modern lighter
s, the gas mantle
which brought light to the streets of Europe in the late 19th century, and the development of the metal filament light bulb.
on 1 September 1858 to Therese and Alois Auer
. Alois, ennobled in 1860, was director of the Imperial printing office (K.-k. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei) in the days of the Austrian Empire
. Carl went to secondary school in Mariahilf
and Josefstadt
before graduating in 1877, and joining the Austro-Hungarian Army
as a Second Lieutenant
.
In 1878 he entered the University of Vienna
, studying mathematics
, general chemistry
, engineering physics
, and thermodynamics
. He then moved to the University of Heidelberg in 1880, where he continued his studies in chemistry under the direction of Robert Bunsen
(inventor of the Bunsen burner
). He received his Ph.D.
in 1882, and returned to Vienna to work as an unpaid assistant in Prof. Adolf Lieben's laboratory, working with chemical separation methods for investigations on rare earth elements.
In 1885 he used a method he developed himself to separate didymium
for the first time. He saw several different colored versions which he named "praseodymium
" (green) and "neodidymium" (pink); the latter then became the more common name for the element, neodymium
.
Later that year he received a patent on his development of the gas mantle
, which he called Auerlicht, using a chemical mixture of 60% magnesium oxide
, 20% lanthanum oxide and 20% yttrium oxide which he called Actinophor. To produce a mantle, guncotton is impregnated with a mixture of Actinophor and then heated, the cotton eventually burns away leaving a solid (albeit fragile) ash which glows brightly when heated. These original mantles gave off a green-tinted light and were not very successful, and his first company formed to sell them failed in 1889.
In 1890 he introduced a new form of the mantle based on a mixture of 99% thorium dioxide
and 1% cerium(IV) oxide
which he developed in collaboration with his colleague Dr. Haittinger. These proved both more robust as well as having a much "whiter" light. Another company founded to produce the newer design was formed in 1891, working with fellow student from the university Ignaz Kreidl, and the device quickly spread throughout Europe.
He then started work on development of metal-filament mantles, first with platinum
wiring, and then osmium
. Osmium is very difficult to work with, but he developed a new method which mixed osmium oxide powder with rubber
or sugar
into a paste, which is then squeezed through a nozzle and fired. The paste burns away, leaving a fine wire of osmium.
Although originally intended to be a new mantle, it was during this period that electricity
was being introduced into the market, and he started experimenting with ways to use the filaments as a replacement for the electric arc light
. He worked on this until finally developing a workable technique in 1898, and started a new factory to produce his Auer-Oslight, which he introduced commercially in 1902. The metal filament light bulb was a huge improvement on the existing carbon filament designs, lasting much longer, using about 1/2 the electricity for the same amount of light, and being much more robust.
In 1903 he won another patent for what is today known as a "flint
", although the term is not well-applied. Welsbach's flints consisted of pyrophoric alloys, 70% cerium
and 30% iron
, which when scratched or struck would give off sparks. This system remains in wide use in cigarette lighter
s today. In 1907 he formed Treibacher Chemische Werke GesmbH to build and market the devices. In 1920 he received the Siemens-Ring as his name had become a synonym for the rise of artificial lightning.
Over the rest of his life he turned again to "pure" chemistry and published a number of papers on chemical separation and spectroscopy
. He presented a major paper on his work on the separation of radioactive elements in 1922.
He died on 4 August 1929.
Austrians
Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....
scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
and inventor who had a talent for not only discovering advances, but turning them into commercially successful products. He is particularly well known for his work on rare earth element
Rare earth element
As defined by IUPAC, rare earth elements or rare earth metals are a set of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically the fifteen lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium...
s, which led to the development of the flint
Ferrocerium
Ferrocerium is a man-made metallic material that has the ability to give off a large number of hot sparks at temperatures at when scraped against a rough surface , such as ridged steel...
used in modern lighter
Lighter
A lighter is a portable device used to generate a flame. It consists of a metal or plastic container filled with a flammable fluid or pressurized liquid gas, a means of ignition, and some provision for extinguishing the flame.- History :...
s, the gas mantle
Gas mantle
An incandescent gas mantle, gas mantle, or Welsbach mantle is a device for generating bright white light when heated by a flame. The name refers to its original heat source, existing gas lights, which filled the streets of Europe and North America in the late 19th century, mantle referring to the...
which brought light to the streets of Europe in the late 19th century, and the development of the metal filament light bulb.
Biography
Welsbach was born in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
on 1 September 1858 to Therese and Alois Auer
Alois Auer
Alois Auer, born 1813 in Wels, Austria, died 11 June 1869; was a printer, inventor and botanical illustrator, most active during the 1840s and 1850s. He produced a number of works in German and other languages, including the first regarding the nature printing process. He was the director of the...
. Alois, ennobled in 1860, was director of the Imperial printing office (K.-k. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei) in the days of the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
. Carl went to secondary school in Mariahilf
Mariahilf
Mariahilf is the 6th municipal district of Vienna, Austria . It is near the center of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850. Mariahilf is a heavily populated urban area with many residential buildings....
and Josefstadt
Josefstadt
Josefstadt is the eighth district of Vienna . It is near the center of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850, but borders changed later. Josefstadt is a heavily populated urban area with many workers and residential homes.It has a population of 22,057 people...
before graduating in 1877, and joining the Austro-Hungarian Army
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...
as a Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
.
In 1878 he entered the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
, studying mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, general chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, engineering physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, and thermodynamics
Thermodynamics
Thermodynamics is a physical science that studies the effects on material bodies, and on radiation in regions of space, of transfer of heat and of work done on or by the bodies or radiation...
. He then moved to the University of Heidelberg in 1880, where he continued his studies in chemistry under the direction of Robert Bunsen
Robert Bunsen
Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen was a German chemist. He investigated emission spectra of heated elements, and discovered caesium and rubidium with Gustav Kirchhoff. Bunsen developed several gas-analytical methods, was a pioneer in photochemistry, and did early work in the field of organoarsenic...
(inventor of the Bunsen burner
Bunsen burner
A Bunsen burner, named after Robert Bunsen, is a common piece of laboratory equipment that produces a single open gas flame, which is used for heating, sterilization, and combustion.- Operation:...
). He received his Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in 1882, and returned to Vienna to work as an unpaid assistant in Prof. Adolf Lieben's laboratory, working with chemical separation methods for investigations on rare earth elements.
In 1885 he used a method he developed himself to separate didymium
Didymium
Didymium is a mixture of the elements praseodymium and neodymium. It is used in safety glasses for glassblowing and blacksmithing, especially when a gas powered forge is used, where it provides a filter which selectively blocks the yellowish light at 589 nm emitted by the hot sodium in the glass,...
for the first time. He saw several different colored versions which he named "praseodymium
Praseodymium
Praseodymium is a chemical element that has the symbol Pr and atomic number 59. Praseodymium is a soft, silvery, malleable and ductile metal in the lanthanide group. It is too reactive to be found in native form, and when artificially prepared, it slowly develops a green oxide coating.The element...
" (green) and "neodidymium" (pink); the latter then became the more common name for the element, neodymium
Neodymium
Neodymium is a chemical element with the symbol Nd and atomic number 60. It is a soft silvery metal that tarnishes in air. Neodymium was discovered in 1885 by the Austrian chemist Carl Auer von Welsbach. It is present in significant quantities in the ore minerals monazite and bastnäsite...
.
Later that year he received a patent on his development of the gas mantle
Gas mantle
An incandescent gas mantle, gas mantle, or Welsbach mantle is a device for generating bright white light when heated by a flame. The name refers to its original heat source, existing gas lights, which filled the streets of Europe and North America in the late 19th century, mantle referring to the...
, which he called Auerlicht, using a chemical mixture of 60% magnesium oxide
Magnesium oxide
Magnesium oxide , or magnesia, is a white hygroscopic solid mineral that occurs naturally as periclase and is a source of magnesium . It has an empirical formula of and consists of a lattice of Mg2+ ions and O2– ions held together by ionic bonds...
, 20% lanthanum oxide and 20% yttrium oxide which he called Actinophor. To produce a mantle, guncotton is impregnated with a mixture of Actinophor and then heated, the cotton eventually burns away leaving a solid (albeit fragile) ash which glows brightly when heated. These original mantles gave off a green-tinted light and were not very successful, and his first company formed to sell them failed in 1889.
In 1890 he introduced a new form of the mantle based on a mixture of 99% thorium dioxide
Thorium dioxide
Thorium dioxide , also called thorium oxide is a white, crystalline powder. It was formerly known as thoria or thorina. It is produced mainly as a by-product of lanthanide and uranium production.[1]...
and 1% cerium(IV) oxide
Cerium(IV) oxide
Cerium oxide, also known as ceric oxide, ceria, cerium oxide or cerium dioxide, is an oxide of the rare earth metal cerium...
which he developed in collaboration with his colleague Dr. Haittinger. These proved both more robust as well as having a much "whiter" light. Another company founded to produce the newer design was formed in 1891, working with fellow student from the university Ignaz Kreidl, and the device quickly spread throughout Europe.
He then started work on development of metal-filament mantles, first with platinum
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...
wiring, and then osmium
Osmium
Osmium is a chemical element with the symbol Os and atomic number 76. Osmium is a hard, brittle, blue-gray or blue-blacktransition metal in the platinum family, and is the densest natural element. Osmium is twice as dense as lead. The density of osmium is , slightly greater than that of iridium,...
. Osmium is very difficult to work with, but he developed a new method which mixed osmium oxide powder with rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
or sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
into a paste, which is then squeezed through a nozzle and fired. The paste burns away, leaving a fine wire of osmium.
Although originally intended to be a new mantle, it was during this period that electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
was being introduced into the market, and he started experimenting with ways to use the filaments as a replacement for the electric arc light
Arc Light
Arc Light is the debut novel by Eric L. Harry, a techno-thriller about limited nuclear war published in 1994 and written in 1991-2.As China and Russia clash in Siberia in June 1999, nuclear missiles strike the United States. The U.S. retaliates against Russia, and World War III begins...
. He worked on this until finally developing a workable technique in 1898, and started a new factory to produce his Auer-Oslight, which he introduced commercially in 1902. The metal filament light bulb was a huge improvement on the existing carbon filament designs, lasting much longer, using about 1/2 the electricity for the same amount of light, and being much more robust.
In 1903 he won another patent for what is today known as a "flint
Ferrocerium
Ferrocerium is a man-made metallic material that has the ability to give off a large number of hot sparks at temperatures at when scraped against a rough surface , such as ridged steel...
", although the term is not well-applied. Welsbach's flints consisted of pyrophoric alloys, 70% cerium
Cerium
Cerium is a chemical element with the symbol Ce and atomic number 58. It is a soft, silvery, ductile metal which easily oxidizes in air. Cerium was named after the dwarf planet . Cerium is the most abundant of the rare earth elements, making up about 0.0046% of the Earth's crust by weight...
and 30% iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
, which when scratched or struck would give off sparks. This system remains in wide use in cigarette lighter
Lighter
A lighter is a portable device used to generate a flame. It consists of a metal or plastic container filled with a flammable fluid or pressurized liquid gas, a means of ignition, and some provision for extinguishing the flame.- History :...
s today. In 1907 he formed Treibacher Chemische Werke GesmbH to build and market the devices. In 1920 he received the Siemens-Ring as his name had become a synonym for the rise of artificial lightning.
Over the rest of his life he turned again to "pure" chemistry and published a number of papers on chemical separation and spectroscopy
Spectroscopy
Spectroscopy is the study of the interaction between matter and radiated energy. Historically, spectroscopy originated through the study of visible light dispersed according to its wavelength, e.g., by a prism. Later the concept was expanded greatly to comprise any interaction with radiative...
. He presented a major paper on his work on the separation of radioactive elements in 1922.
He died on 4 August 1929.
See also
- AuergesellschaftAuergesellschaftThe industrial firm Auergesellschaft was founded in 1892 with headquarters in Berlin. Up to the end of World War II, Auergesellschaft had research activities in the areas of gas mantles, luminescence, rare earths, radioactivity, and uranium and thorium compounds. In 1934, the corporation was...
- AuerliteAuerliteAuerlite is a rare North Carolina mineral, remarkably rich in thoria, named after Carl Auer von Welsbach, the inventor of the Welsbach incandescent gas mantel.- Description :...
External links
- Auer von Welsbach Museum — Biography
- Treibacher Industrie AG — Company history
- Carl Auer von Welsbach - Das Lebenswerk eines österreichischen Genies