Rudolf Christian Böttger
Encyclopedia
Rudolf Christian Böttger (April 28, 1806 – April 29, 1881) was a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 inorganic chemist. He conducted most of his research at the University of Frankfurt am Main. He is credited with discovery of nitrocellulose
Nitrocellulose
Nitrocellulose is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to nitric acid or another powerful nitrating agent. When used as a propellant or low-order explosive, it is also known as guncotton...

 in 1846, independently to Schönbein
Christian Friedrich Schönbein
Christian Friedrich Schönbein was a German-Swiss chemist who is best known for inventing the fuel cell and his discoveries of guncotton and ozone.- Life :...

, and with the synthesis of the first organocopper compound copper(I) acetylide
Copper(I) acetylide
Copper acetylide, or cuprous acetylide, is an inorganic chemical compound with the formula Cu2C2. It is a heat and shock sensitive high explosive, more sensitive than silver acetylide. It is a metal acetylide. It is similar to silver acetylide and calcium carbide, though it is not called carbide in...

 Cu2C2 in 1859.

Life and work

Böttger was born in Aschersleben
Aschersleben
Aschersleben is a town in the Salzlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated approx. 22 km east of Quedlinburg, and 45 km northwest of Halle .-Pre-20th century:...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 in 1806. After attending the primary school there he joined the school of the Franksche Stiftung in Halle an der Saale at the age of eleven. In 1824, Böttger started to study theology, but in parallel also attended the science lectures at the University Halle. The lectures of Johann Salomo Christoph Schweigger
Johann Salomo Christoph Schweigger
Johann Salomo Christoph Schweigger was a German chemist, physicist, and professor of mathematics. In 1811, he proposed the name "Chlorine" for the substance discovered in 1774 by Carl Wilhelm Scheele and properly identified by Humphry Davy as an element in 1810. In 1820 he built the first...

 had a strong influence on him. Böttger left the university in 1828 and worked as cleric and teacher at different locations. The contact with Schweigger never faded and in 1831 Böttger decided to leave the theology career. He was offered a job at the voluntary association for chemistry in Frankfurt in 1835. His first major work in Frankfurt was the improvement of the electrotyping
Electrotyping
Electrotyping is a chemical method for forming metal parts that exactly reproduce a model. The method was invented by Moritz von Jacobi in Russia in 1838, and was immediately adopted for applications in printing and several other fields...

 method for the production of printing plates. Böttger received his PhD from the University of Jena in 1837 and was appointed as full professor in Frankfurt in 1842. Böttger married Christiane Harpke in 1841, and they had eight children. He and Christian Friedrich Schönbein
Christian Friedrich Schönbein
Christian Friedrich Schönbein was a German-Swiss chemist who is best known for inventing the fuel cell and his discoveries of guncotton and ozone.- Life :...

, a German-Swiss chemist, discovered nitrocellulose independently in 1846. Both scientists collaborated to earn money with the invention, but they were not successful. The development of the safety match in 1848 and the synthesis of the first organocopper compound, the explosive copper(I) acetylide
Copper(I) acetylide
Copper acetylide, or cuprous acetylide, is an inorganic chemical compound with the formula Cu2C2. It is a heat and shock sensitive high explosive, more sensitive than silver acetylide. It is a metal acetylide. It is similar to silver acetylide and calcium carbide, though it is not called carbide in...

 Cu2C2 in 1859 were examples for his chemistry research. Böttger stayed at the University of Frankfurt am Main for the rest of his life, although he was offered positions at other universities. He died of a liver illness in 1881.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK