A History of Chemistry – Part 4
May 20, 2020
Article
The industrialization of electrochemistry
Michael Faraday (1791–1867) had a modest upbringing. He was 14 years old when he began his bookbinding apprenticeship. The young Faraday read a multitude of works that he received for binding and thus educated himself in the sciences as well as in literature and art. A customer at the bookbinding workshop noticed the curious apprentice and mentioned him to his father, who then took Faraday with him to several lectures given by electrochemistry pioneer Humphry Davy. Shortly after, Faraday began working for Davy.
As his assistant, Faraday traveled with Davy across Europe, as they carried out experiments together and met numerous influential scientists. Back in England, Faraday continued training as a chemist and in 1833 became a professor of chemistry. During this time, he investigated the basic laws of electrolysis. These formed the basis of electrochemistry and, in the second half of the century, enabled the development of an electrochemical industry which manufactured products such as chlorine, hydrogen, aluminum, magnesium, sodium, and potassium in its plants located at hydroelectric power stations.
Solvay’s soda ash
The industrial production of soda ash (sodium carbonate) had been possible since the development of the Leblanc process at the end of the 18th century. However, the synthesis required expensive raw materials and produced large amounts of the byproduct hydrogen chloride, which is toxic to the environment in which it is introduced. The produced hydrogen chloride escapes from industrial stacks and kills surrounding vegetation, and is also lethal to aquatic life when added to water.