PERKIN MEDAL Awarded to Colin G. Fink for his inventions in metallurgy and electrochemistry
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HE Perkin Medal for 1934 was presented to Colin G. Fink, professor of electrochemistry a t Columbia University, Few York, on January 5, a t a joint meeting of scientific societies under the auspices of the American Section of the Society of Chemical Industry in Kew York, s.Y. Harold Hibbert, of RiIcGill University, Montreal, Canada, described the accomplishments of the medalist, followed by presentation of the medal by Marston T. Bogert of Columbia University, and the address of the medalist himself. The Perkin Medal may be awarded annually by the Xmerican Section of the Society of Chemical Industry for the most valuable work in applied chemistry. The award may be made to any chemist residing in the United States of America for work which he has done a t any time during his career, whether this work proved successful a t the time of execution or publication, or whether i t became valuable in subsequent development of the industry. The medalist is chosen by a committee representing this society, the AMERICAS CHERIICAL SOCIETY, the American Electrochemical Society, the
American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the SociCt6 de Chimie Industrielle. The list of medalists from the date of founding of the medal in 1906 by Sir William H. Perkin to. the present is as follows. 1906 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917
191s 1919 1920
Sir William H. Perkin J. B. F. Herreshoff Arno Behr E. G. Acheson Charles 31. Hall Herman Frasch James Gayley John W.Hyatt Edward Weston Leo H. Baekeland Ernst Taitchell Auguste J. Rossi F. G. Cottrell Charles F. Chandler
1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 19% 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934
Willis R. Whitney William M. Burton Milton C. Whitalter Frederick >I, Becket Hugh K. Moore R.B. Moore John E. Teeple Irving Langmuir E. C. Sullivan Herbert H. Dow Arthur D. Little Charles F. Burgess George Oenslager Colin G. Fink
(For list of achievements of each medalist, see ISD.EKG. CHEJI.,February, 1933, page 229.)
...*. Accomplishments of the Medalist HAROLDHIBBERT
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H E new Perkin medalist was born in h’ew Jersey, December 31, 1881. His father, F. W. Fink, was scientifically inclined and possessed one of the finest collections of the elements of the periodic system. He was a close associate of Charles F. Chandler who, in the early days, was head professor of the School of Pharmacy of New York (which later became a part of Columbia University) and W B S well versed in chemistry, botany, and astronomy. Accordingly, the home atmosphere contributed much toward the medalist’s selection of a future career. During his undergraduate years a t Columbia, Fink devoted most of his time to physics and chemistry. The editor of the Senior Yearbook which was distributed to the graduating class wrote about Fink as follows: “He entered Columbia College in eighteen-ninety-nine, where he spent most of his time smiling, doing ‘math’ and ‘lab’ Fork.’’ His thesis work with Professor Chandler was on “Acheson Artificial Graphite,” and it was a t that period that Edward Goodricli Acheson made his remarkable discoveries of Carborundum and electric-furnace graphite. Professor Chandler’s lectures were a great inspiration to Fink, as they have been to many others, in particular, the theme that the young chemist need not fear to tackle the hardest problem, since, by serious and persistent applicat)ion, all barriers could eventually be overcome. Professor Chandler frequently played host to prominent chemists and engineers, and on one of these occasions Hans Goldschmidt lectured to a large group of students on his recently discovered “thermite method” of reducing metal oxides with the aid of aluminum. Doctor Goldschmidt performed a number of startling experiments before the eyes of the young, prospective chemists.
The reaction between aluminum and metal oxide, such a. iron, manganese, or chromium oxides, took place almost explosively with accompanying display of fireworks. At the conclusion of the lecture Doctor Goldschmidt distributed among the students samples of the productsmadeinthelecture room, and Fink received a small sample of metallic chromium. This was the beginning of his interest in this metal which has never ceased. This sample traveled with him to Leipzig where he met Professor Max LeBlanc who was a specialist on the properties of chromium. Eventually Fink’s researches culminated in the development of a number of chromium alloys and, particularly, in a commercial chromiumplating process widely used today. With an array of chemical professors and Privatdoeenten, including Ostwald, Luther, LeBlanc, Bodenstein, Freundlich, Drucker; physicists such as Wiener and des Coudres; professors of organic chemistry of the rank of Hantzschequally imbued with the desire to apply the new physicochemical science to that of organic chemistry; and technologists such as Beckmann and Rassow, it is little wonder that Leipzig, to the overseas student, represented a veritable Mecca for the study of chemistry. Fink worked for almost four years in the Ostwald Laboratories, being assistant in electrochemistry during his last year. Ostwald was a particularly gifted pedagogue, and the students attending his lectures could not help but feel that chemistry was the greatest science of all. Among the other teachers who materially influenced Fink in his future work was Otto Wiener, professor of physics. His lectures in light and electricity were particularly well presented, the demonstrations often requiring several days in preparation. Fink’s
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In 1917 he was invited to take charge of the new research thesis was on “The Kinetics of . Contact Sulfuric Acid.” His experimental findings did not conform with the orthodox laboratories of the Chile Exploration Company, the research ideas of gas reactions, and it was necessary for him to spend staff of which eventually totaled thirty-three. Their proba n additional semester and check over his results before his lems were largely concerned with the metallurgy of copper, thesis was accepted. Fink showed that the velocity of the tin, and zinc. It was a t Chile that Fink invented the insulfur dioxide to sulfur trioxide reaction was not gaged by the soluble copper silicide anode which has been in use a t Cliuvelocity of the chemical reaction but by the velocity of the d 3 u - quicamata ever since 1921. E. L. Jorgensen, formerly with sion of the reacting gases through a comparatively sluggish the Chile Exploration Company, in referring to Fink’s Chilei film adhering to the surface of the platinum catalyst. Many anode, stated: “The saving in power resulting from the inyears later Wilder D. Bancroft in his book on “Applied Colloid troduction of the new anode made the existing power plant able to take care of increased t a n k - h o u ~ Chemistrv” referred to this thesis and conproduction, saving several million dollars sidered Ifink the “real pioneer” in this line. The cost of anode maintenance was reduced Fink took an active part in the chemical by about 90 per cent, saving in additioii colloquia and, being a fluent linguist, was about $1,000,000per year. This is a brillimt always a welcome speaker. It took a certain example that foresight in research often p a p amount of courage to present in vigorous lanhandsomely.” guage what a t that time were considered the In 1922 the Guggenheims sold their inshockingly unorthodox views of Louis Kahlterests in the Chile Copper Company t o the enberg, but Fink managed to do it successAnaconda Company and included in the d e fully. It was also about this time that the the r e s e a r c h l a b o r a t o r y . I n that year laboratory had a visit from Harry C. Jones Columbia invited Fink to take charge uf the of the Johns Hopkins University, who, in Dirision of Electrochemistry, and he ha\ t een an endeavor to convince the students of the a t Columbia University ever since. I t wacorrectness of his views, caused much amusehere that he perfected his chromium-plating ment by his statement, in discussing certain process and in conjunction with Charle5 €1. graphs, “Nun meine Herrn, es existieren Eldridge developed the well-known met hod zwar keine Knicken in der Natur!” COLING. FIUK for the r e s t o r a t i o n of a n c i e n t bronzez. Fink was no scientific recluse. At Leipzig Among Fink’s most recent accomplishment, there was an American-British colony totalingabout six thousand, as wellas an American-Brit ish Students’ is that of an aluminum-plated steel which has many outstaridClub of which Fink was president for two years. The club met ing qualities quite distinct from those of galvanized steel 01’ during the school year every three or four weeks, and a t these tin plate. At the recent meeting of the Electrochemical Society at meetings a rare opportunity was offered to interchange ideas and opinions with students from every part of the States and Chicago, Fink received the Edward Goodrich Acheson hledal the British Empire. Many of the students were members of in recognition of “distinguished contributions in electrothe Conservatory of hIusic, one of the foremost in the world. chemistry,” and the thousand dollar prize xhich accompanieIt was a t such gatherings that Fink’s wit and good-fellowhip this medal. In conclusion it should be noted that the distinguidiing made him a radiating source of fun and merriment. Among his fellow-students were 8. C. Lind and F. H. LIacDougall feature characterizing Fink’s original contributions in applied now a t the University of Minnesota; Arthur B. Lamb and electrochemistry is that of a departure in each case froin thc George S. Forbes a t Harvard University; William C. Bray orthodox method of approach to the problem. Thus, in his Leipzig thesis dealing with the niechanisni a t the University of California; J. W. McBain of Stanford Vniversity; Herbert F. Sill of the Carnegie Institute of of the “sulfuric acid contact process,” it was the physical. Technology; Robert H. Clark a t the University of British instead of the chemical approach to the study of the velocitj of gas reactions which interested him, with the consequent Columbia; and the writer. Returning to New York, Fink found a letter awaiting him discovery that the diffusion velocity of the reacting gase. from Doctor Whitney of Schenectady suggesting that he through the adsorbed surface gas film on the catalyst detercome to see him, and on hlay 1, 1907, Fink entered the Re- mined the reaction velocity. I n his researches on the ductilization of metals, the allsearch Laboratories of the General Electric Company. At that time most of the work in the laboratory was devoted to preciation nf the necessity for distinguishing the relative tungsten filament researches. Fink brought to this subject brittleness rather than merely ascertaining that one sample a freshness of mind and an extraordinarilyimaginative faculty, was “ductile” and the other “brittle” was the key wliicli as well as the boundless research enthusiasm which has char- facilitated the final solution of the problem. The work on platinum substitutes was, from its inception, acterized all of his later discoveries. Commencing work in the laboratory with the advantage of a detailed knowledge treated as a research problem concerned with the absolute of their previous work in this field, Fink was able, within a adhesion of a metal to glass (followed by the discovery that period of some two years, to contribute such fundamental copper displays this property even better than platinum) information on the subject of ductile tungsten that the prob- rather than an attempt to find a metal or alloy having t1.e lem could be regarded as solved. same coefficient of expansion as that of glass. He continued to devote his attention to research, and one I n the insoluble anode research work, it was the original of the most important problenis was the necessity for finding a conception of rendering the cathode metal insoluble a t the substitute for platinum, then being used as a leading-in Fire anode, by means of oxygen catalysts, which led to a solution for all lamps, rectifiers, etc. The price of platinum was in- of the problem and its splendid commercial success. creasing steadily and the annual budget called for an exThe underlying idea in the restoration of bronzes was that penditure for this metal of over $7,OC0,000. Fink developed of discovering a means for bringing about the reversion of a copper-clad platinum substitute [British Patent 23,775 corrosion rather than merely removing the corrosion prod(October 17, 1912); C. s. Patent 1,498,908 (June 24,1924)l. ucts, as practiced for centuries. I n Fink’s new method the This was introduced into the lamp factories soon thereafter detail of design is retained and not removed with the cnrand resulted in a saving of many millions of dollars. rosion crust,
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111 tlie resea.rclies OIL elevtrojilating, Fink c:oiicentrnttnl lii-. attention on a method inr.olring nlisolute coiit,rol of the cnt,hodesurface film instead rrf following the aeccpted mrtliod 1 iiivestigatioii of eoont,lesr sohit ions of varying chemical coiit(int and roncentrat,ion. His recent reselrrclies dealing with the mechnirianl involved in the freezing of plnrits are yielding interestiiig results. These are based on the view that the plienon~enaare ronvrrnnd primarily mitt?
