Carl Wagner
| Carl Wagner | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 25, 1901 Leipzig, German Empire |
| Died |
December 10, 1977 (aged 76) Göttingen |
| Nationality | Germany |
| Fields | Physical chemistry |
| Notable awards | Wilhelm Exner Medal, 1959 |
Carl Wilhelm Wagner (May 25, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was a German Physical chemist. He is best known for his pioneering work on Solid-state chemistry , where his work on oxidation rate theory, counter diffusion of ions and defect chemistry led to a better understanding of how reactions take place at the atomic level. His life and achievements were honoured in a Solid State Ionics symposium commemorating his 100th birthday in 2001, where he was described as the Father of Solid State Chemistry.
Wagner was born in Leipzig, Germany; the son of Dr Julius Wagner who was the Head of Chemistry at the local institute and secretary of the German Bunsen Society of Physical Chemistry. Wagner graduated at the University of Munich and gained his PhD at the University of Leipzig in 1924 supervised by Max Le Blanc with a dissertation on the reaction rate in solutions. "Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Reaktionsgeschwindigkeit in Lösungen"
Wagner was interested in the measurement of thermodynamic activities of the components in solid and liquid alloys. He also carried out research on problems of solid state chemistry, especially the role of defects of ionic crystals on thermodynamic properties, electrical conductivity and diffusion.
He became a research fellow at the Bodernstein Institute at the University of Berlin. It was in Berlin that he first became acquainted with Walter H. Schottky who asked him to co-author a book on thermodynamic problems. Together with H Ulich they published "Thermodynamik" in 1929, which is still considered a standard reference in the field.
In 1930 he was Privatdozent at the University of Jena and published a notable paper with Schottky “Theorie der geordneten Mischphasen” (Theory of arranged mixed phases). His subsequent published papers led to the new concept of chemical disorder now known as Defect Chemistry. Wagner spent one year as Visiting Professor of Physical Chemistry, at the University of Hamburg in 1933, before moving to the Technische Universität Darmstadt where he was Professor of Physical Chemistry until 1945. He proposed an important law of oxidation kinetics in 1933. In 1936 he published a crucial paper “On the mechanism of the formation of ionic crystals of higher order (double salts, spinels, silicates)” a concept of counter-diffusion of cations, which contributed to the understanding of all diffusion controlled, solid state reactions. Over a twenty-year period he produced an important body of work relating to the bulk transport processes in oxides.
...
Wikipedia