Henri Holy-Claire Deville

Henri Holy-Claire Deville (March 9th 1818 with Saint Thomas (the Antilles) - July 1st 1881 with the Boulogne-on-Seine) is a French, known chemist mainly for this work on the Aluminum.

Its origins

Henry Holy-Claire Deville was born in the Antilles on the island from saint Thomas, possession at the time of the Denmark. His/her father, who had preserved his French nationality , was ship-owner. Its family is originating in the French area of the Périgord.

His/her brother Charles will become Géologue and will be known for his work on the Volcan S.

Chemistry

He returns to France accompanied by his brother to make studies of medicine. He obtains his doctorate at 25 years in 1843. He impassions himself for chemistry and follows the courses of the chemist Louis Jacques Thénard. He creates in an attic its first laboratory and discovers the toluene.

In 1845, it is named professor and senior in the very new Faculty of Science of Besancon, where there will remain six years. It develops a new process of analysis of water to analyze the water of the Doubs. It isolates nitrogen pentoxide while making pass from the Chlore on Silver nitrate. This discovery is worth its first famous to him near the European scientific world.

The National university

In 1851, it is named lecturer of chemistry to the National university of Paris to old 33 years.

It cultivates its relations by opening its laboratory Sunday afternoon with the scientific celebrities (Louis Pasteur), arts persons (Renan) and policies (Thiers).

While working on very stable bodies supposed such as the Water and the Carbon dioxide, it highlights the concept of reversibility and chemical balance. Its work on this subject will be resumed and developed by its pupils: Henri Debray, Louis Joseph Troost, Paul Hautefeuille, Alfred Ditte. In 1864, it gives on this subject of the conferences called “lessons of chemistry”.

In 1867 it is named chemistry teacher with the Faculty of sciences of Paris following Balard. It is compensated of 1875 for its death by Henri Debray and it is Louis-Joseph Troost which succeeds to him.

Its work on aluminum

As of its arrival at the Teacher training school, he seeks to determine the properties of the Silicium, the Magnésium and the Aluminum.

To produce aluminum, it takes again the experiments of Friedrich Wöhler, this last having succeeded in only producing some aluminum spangles in the middle of many impurities. To reduce aluminum oxide, unlike Wöhler, it replaces the Potassium by sodium. It succeeds in producing the first aluminum ingots. The chemical production of aluminum was born. In 1854, it makes a first communication on this subject with the Academy of Science, which is worth at the same time the celebrity and the lightnings of Wöhler to him.

In 1856, it publishes a report on aluminum where it envisages the future use of this metal: “Aluminum is likely to become a usual metal”. Among other properties, it determines its electric conductibility: “The determination of electric conductibility was made by means of the apparatus of Mr. Wheatstone, while seeking which were dimensions of a wire of harpsichord and of a wire of aluminum which opposed in the passing electricity same electrical resistance. ”

Beginnings of the industrial production of aluminum

In 1854, Henry Holy-Claire Deville carries out the first industrial production of aluminum in a factory of Javel in Paris. Work is financed by the emperor Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. The first ingots will be used for the World Fair of 1855.

In 1856, the factory settles in the district of the Refrigerator then in 1857 with Nanterre. In 1859, this factory will produce 500 kg of aluminum mainly intended for the jewelry.

It with the brilliant intuition to choose the Bauxite like ore to produce the Alumina necessary to the production of aluminum. It develops the process known as proceeded Deville to extract alumina from the ore.

He works on the peripheral questions with the production of aluminum and develops a method of production of sodium, raw material which he needs. Following its work, the production costs of this metal pass from 1000 F to 10 F by kg.

It is interested in the Cryolithe and discovers that it dissolves alumina. It will use it in the factory of Nanterre as flux.

The chemical process of Holy-Claire Deville will develop until in 1886, year or Paul Héroult and Charles Martin Hall will discover the electrolytic proceeded of production of aluminum. In 1854, Holy-Claire Deville had approached an electrolytic method, but the five piles which it used were unable to provide him the electric output of the generators which Héroult and Hall will use. Henri Moissan (Nobel Prize of chemistry in 1906) will say “Deville awaited the discovery of Gram”.

Publications

(Nonexhaustive List)

“Memory on the manufacture of sodium and aluminum”, Annals of chemistry and physics, 46 (1856), 415-58

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