Heinz Gerischer
Heinz Gerischer | |
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Born | Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer | 31 March 1919
Doctoral students | Gerhard Ertl |
Heinz Gerischer (31 March 1919 – 14 September 1994) was a German chemist who specialized in electrochemistry. He was the thesis advisor of future Nobel laureate Gerhard Ertl.
The Heinz Gerischer Award of the European section of
Academic career
Gerischer studied chemistry at the
In Leipzig, Gerischer joined the group of
Gerischer met his future wife, Renate Gersdorf, at the University of Leipzig where she was doing her diploma work with Conrad Weygand. They were married in Berlin in October 1948. In 1949 Gerischer moved his young family to Göttingen to join Bonhöffer as a research associate at the newly established Max Planck Institute for Physical Chemistry. In Berlin and Göttingen and especially during the period from 1949 to 1955, Gerischer was interested in electrode kinetics and developed instruments and techniques for their study. It was he who developed the electronic potentiostat, the most widely used instrument of electrochemists. He also monitored fast electrode processes by double potential step and AC modulation. This work laid the foundation for a mechanistic interpretation of electrode reactions and had a lasting impact on our understanding of electrode kinetics. It was recognized by the newly minted Bodenstein Prize of the Deutsche Bunsen-Gesellschaft, which Gerischer and Klaus Vetter jointly received in 1953.
Gerischer was appointed in 1954 to the position of Department Head and Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Metal Research in Stuttgart. A year later, he received the Habilitation from the University of Stuttgart for his comprehensive study of the discharge of metal ions in corrosion. The years 1954–1961 in Stuttgart were prolific and it was here that Gerischer began his work on semiconductor electrochemistry. It began with a short note on the electrochemistry of n-type and p-type germanium; a study that grew out of a seminar on solid state physics at the university, where the recent results of Brattain and Garrett on germanium were discussed. Gerischer recognized the theoretical implications of semiconductor electrochemistry in charge transfer and its potential applications in photochemistry and photovoltaic devices. His papers considered the differentiation between Faradaic reactions of electrons and holes (1959), the theory of electron tunneling at semiconductor-electrolyte interfaces, solution Fermi levels, and densities of states. He extended his studies to metal electrodes which he studied with his electronic potentiostat (1957), to stress corrosion (1957), to hydrogen evolution and hydrogen adatom formation (1957), to fast electrode processes (1960) and to the reaction kinetics of water dissociation, which he probed by the microwave pulse method (1961).
His work was recognized by his appointment as Associate Professor (“Extraordinariat”) in Electrochemistry at the
Selected contributions
- Relating Concentration Polarizations and Electrode Potentials (Kaiser Wilhelm Inst. Berlin, 1951) “Concentration polarization due to the initial chemical reaction in electrolytes and its contribution to the stationary polarization resistance corresponding to the equilibrium potential.” Gerischer, Heinz; Vetter, Klaus J.; Z. physik. Chem.(1951)197, 92–104.
- Theory of AC Electrochemistry (Max Planck Inst. Phys. Chem. Göttingen, 1951) “Alternating-current polarization of electrodes with a potential-determining step for equilibrium potential.” Gerischer, H., Z. physik. Chem. (1951) 198, 286–313
- Discovery of Radicals on Electrodes (Max Planck Inst. Phys. Chem., Göttingen, 1956) “Catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide on metallic platinum.” Gerischer, R; Gerischer, H.; Z. physik. Chem. (1956) 6, 178–200
- Observation of the Different Electrochemical Etching Rates of p and n Type Semiconductors (Max Planck Inst. Metallforsch., Stuttgart, 1957) “Solution of n- and p-germanium in aqueous electrolyte solution under the action of oxidizing agents.” Gerischer, H.; Beck, F.; Z. physik. Chem. (1957) 13, 389-95.
- Invention of the Potentiostat (Max Planck Inst. Metallforsch., Stuttgart, 1957) “The electronic potentiostat and its application in the investigation of fast electrode reactions” Gerischer, H.; Staubach, K. E.; Z. Electrochem.(1957)61, 789-94.
- Explanation of Stress Corrosion (Max-Planck-Inst. Metallforschung, Stuttgart, 1957) “Electrochemical processes in stress corrosion” Gerischer, H.; Werkstoffe u. Korrosion (1957)8, 394-401.
- Discovery of Adatoms, the Existence of Adsorbed Atoms on Electrodes (Max-Planck-Inst. Metallforschung, Stuttgart, 1958) “Mechanism of electrolytic discharge of hydrogen and adsorption energy of atomic hydrogen” Gerischer, H.; Bull. soc. chim. Belges (1958) 67, 506-27.
- Observation of Differently Reacting Valence and Conduction Band Carriers (Max-Planck-Inst. Metallforschung, Stuttgart, 1959) “Oxidation-reduction processes in germanium electrodes.”Beck, F.; Gerischer, H.; Z. Elektrochem.(1959) 63, 943-50.
- Relating Band Positions to Electrode Kinetics (Max-Planck-Inst. Metallforsch., Stuttgart, 1960) “Kinetics of oxidation-reduction reactions on metals and semiconductors. I &II General remarks on the electron transition between a solid body and a reduction-oxidation electrolyte.” Gerischer, H.; Z. physik. Chem. (1960) 26, 223-47; 325-38; (1961) 27, 48-79.
- On the use of single crystal electrodes (Techn. Hochsch. Munich, 1963) “Preparation of spherical single crystal electrodes for use in electrocrystallization studies." Roe, D.K., Gerischer H.; J. Electrochem. Soc.(1963) 110, 350-352.
- Role of Surface States in Electron Transfer at Semiconductor-Solution Interfaces (Tech. Hochsch., Munich, 1967) “Surface activity in redox reactions on semiconductors.” Gerischer, H.; Wallem Mattes; I. Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie (1967) 52,60-72.
- Dye Photosensitization of Zinc Oxide (Tech. Hochsch., Munich,1969) “Electrochemical studies on the mechanism of sensitization and supersensitization of zinc oxide single crystals.” Tributsch, H.; Gerischer, H.; Berichte der Bunsen-Gesellschaft (1969) 73,251-60. “Use of semiconductor electrodes in the study of photochemical reactions.” Tributsch, H.; Gerischer, H.; Berichte der Bunsen-Gesellschaft(1969)73,850-4.
- Electrochemistry of electronically excited states (Fritz-Haber-Institut der MPG, 1973) "Elektrodenreaktionen mit angeregten elektronischen Zuständen.“ Gerischer, H.; Ber. Bunsenges. Phys. Chem. (1973) 77, 284-288.
- Semiconductor Photodecomposition (Fritz-Haber-Institut der MPG, 1977 “On the stability of semiconductor electrodes against photodecomposition”. Gerischer H. J. Electroanal. Chem. (1977) 82, 133-143.
- Relating Fermi Levels to Redox Potentials (Fritz-Haber-Inst., Max-Planck-Ges., Berlin, 1983)“Fermi levels in electrolytes and the absolute scale of redox potentials.“ Gerischer, H.; Ekardt, W.; Appl. Phy.s Lett.(1983) 43, 393-5.
References
- The Electrochemical Society. Retrieved 16 January 2011.
- Nathan S. Lewis; Helmut Tributsch; Arthur J. Nozik (1997). "Gerischer,Heinz - 31 March 1919 14 September 1994 - Biography". .
- Kolb DM (1995). "Gerischer, Heinz (1919–1994) - In-Memoriam". .
- Nozik AJ (1997). "Gerischer,Heinz - 31 March 1919 14 September 1994". .
- "Heinz Gerischer — The man and his science 1919–1994". .
- Adam Heller; Dieter Kolb; Krishnan Rajeshwar (Fall 2010). "The Life and Work of Heinz Gerischer". The Electrochemical Society Interface: 37–40.
External links
- Media related to Heinz Gerischer at Wikimedia Commons
- Heinz Gerischer in the German National Library catalogue