Fritz Haber

Haber, Fritz (Haber, Fritz) (1868-1934), German chemist, was awarded in 1918 Nobel Prize in chemistry for the synthesis of ammonia. Born Dec. 9, 1868 in Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland), the son of a prosperous merchant. He studied at the universities of Berlin, Heidelberg and Karlsruhe. He was educated at the Higher Technical School in Charlottenburg. In 1891 he defended his doctoral dissertation at the University of Berlin. In 1894, he became assistant to the Higher Technical School in Karlsruhe, in 1896 he was appointed assistant professor in 1906 - Professor of Physical Chemistry. In 1911 he was appointed director of the Berlin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry at the Kaiser Wilhelm Society. During the war, led the Chemical Service of the German troops. In 1933, resigned as director and emigrated - first to England and then in Switzerland.

The main work of Haber are electrochemistry and thermodynamics of gas-phase reactions. In the 1904-1905 academic, studying the equilibrium of ammonia, showed the possibility of its synthesis from nitrogen and hydrogen, in 1907-1909 constructed a small apparatus to obtain this product, in 1910-1915 implemented a catalytic synthesis of ammonia. This work has allowed to resolve the longstanding problem of nitrogen fixation and nitrogen fertilizer receipt. In 1913 was put into operation the first plant of synthetic ammonia in the OPPA. During this period, the concern 'of Baden Aniline dyes and soda factories' were created mixed catalysts for ammonia synthesis, led to a tremendous speed up the process and not to him, as before, at high temperature and pressure. In 1909 Haber invented a glass electrode, were still used to measure the pH of the solution. One of his latest development was the search for ways to get gold from sea water. Haber died in Basel on January 29, 1934.