Alwin Mittasch

Alwin Mittasch

1928 at Munich
Born 27 December 1869
Großdehsa, Saxony, Germany
Died 4 June 1953 (aged 83)
Heidelberg, Germany
Nationality German
Fields Catalysis
Institutions BASF
Alma mater University of Leipzig 1901
Doctoral advisor Wilhelm Ostwald

Alwin Mittasch '"Paul Alwin Mittasch'" ( * 27 December 1869 in Großdehsa, today to Löbau, Germany ; † 4 June 1953 in Heidelberg,Germany) was a German chemist as well as scientific historian who succeeded above all by his pioneering and systematic researches (among other things catalyst development) to the ammonia synthesis after the Haber Bosch procedure to big respect.

Life

Alwin Mittasch was born in 1869 as a son of a teacher in the sorbisch stamped village Großdehsa in Germany. He was one of five brothers and sisters (a brother as well as three sisters. First he visited in his home village of Großdehsa the elementary school. Then he changed to a boarding school in Bautzen where he in 1889 the teacher seminar finished. Then he smashed like his father a career as a teacher in which he worked as an assistant teacher on the elementary school to Klix with good rope. In 1892 he moved to Leipzig and began there as a sideline in university of Leipzig with the study of numerous fields to which history, philosophy, psychology counted, however, also the natural sciences. However, bit by bit he made a mistake to the chemistry. Hence, in 1901 he conferred a doctorate in the field on chemistry in the department from Wilhelm Ostwald in the department of the Pysikochemie. Max Bodenstein became his supervisor. In his thesis dealt Mittasch with Nickelcarbonylen. In spite of full-time employment as a teacher he finished this after one and a half years with summa cum laude. Use found the basic results of this work among other things with the development of the Mond-Langer-Carbonylverfahrens into the nickel production. Still decades later his results of the research were pulled by experts to rate. However, still he still intensely dealt with the philosophy. A habilitation could not aim at Mittasch, because he had to show no Abitur. Therefore he smashed the way into the industry. First it nailed up him after mountain Stol near Aachen as an analytic chemist in AG for mining, manufacture of lead and zinc manufacture. A place followed as an assistant of Carl Bosch as well as the management of a research lab of the BASF. After he entered by the untimely death of his oldest son Heinz Mittasch in 1932 early into the retirement, he resettled to Heidelberg and devoted himself to the writing and the music. Besides, he had made a mistake to the gardening. Mittasch was all years no political person. Though he gave probably in 1933 his vote for the national socialism, however, never was an ideological follower. In 1953 Alwin Mittasch passed away in Heidelberg. He left his wife Dora Martha Mittasch (born hunter) and his younger son Helmut Mittasch.

Work

His career began Mittasch first in 1903 in mountain Stol with the manufacture of lead and zinc manufacture. After a short time he received there already thanks to his Kenntnisreichheit a leading function in the metal metallurgical engineering. However, after only one year he changed on recommendation of his supervisor at that time to the BASF where he took up his activity as an assistant from Carl Bosch. Besides, he took part in the attempts with which nitrogen about Metallnitride as well as Metallcyanide should be fixed. In 1909 Mittasch began production on the base from Eisenoxid in whose result approx. 20,000 attempts were carried out for the optimisation with the systematic search for a catalyst to the ammonia. The found catalyst (iron (II/III) oxide Fe 3 O 4 , K 2 O, CaO, Al 2 O 3 and SiO 2 ) allowed the large-scale technical ammoniated synthesis and is nearly unchanged till this day in use. By his great success Mittasch became 1918 research leaders of the then new-founded ammoniated laboratory of the BASF. Not only this start of the efficient catalyst to ammoniated production decreases to Mittasch but also the catalytic ammoniated oxidation to the nitric acid production, the high-pressure methanol synthesis (together with Matthias Pier in 1923) with mixing oxide catalysts (Zn (II) oxide and Cr (III) oxide), as well as the Hochdruckcarbonylprozesse to the production of the purest metals like, e.g., nickel. The results of his works are held on in 85 patents which he announced mostly with his employees. For his knowledge and his engagement received numerous honour for his works, and & nbsp; a. the honorary doctorate of the universities TH Munich and LwH Berlin, as well as the appointment the professor by the government of Baden-Wurttemberg. Alwin Mittasch awards to honour the DECHEMA regularly the Alwin Mittasch price (early Alwin Mittasch medallion) for prominent achievements in the area of the catalysis research. After ending of his career as a Chemieker he wrote a lot about the history of the chemistry as well as about the philosophy of the natural sciences for which he received recognition also from high-ranking people like Theodor Heuss. Moreover, from the late year 1944 he started to write in the "chronicle of my life".

Works

Honour

References

External links

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