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JOURNAL OB CHEMICAL EDUCATION
APRIL, 1928
THE ORGANIZATION AND RESEARCHES IN PROGRESS AT THE KAISER WILHELM INSTITUTE FOR PHYSICAL AND ELECTROCHEMISTRY I,. H. RBYERSON,' KAISERWILHELM INSTITUTE, BERLIN-DAALEM, GERMANY
The Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for physical and electrochemistry opened on the nineteenth of September for the Winter Semester. The Winter Semester ends a t the Easter vacation. Following Easter the Summer Semester begins and this closes on the first of August. The Institute is located in Dahlem, one of the suburbs of Berlin, and is one of several Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes under the direction of the Kaiser Wilhelm Gesellschaft zur Fordernng der Wissenschaften. The laboratories of the Institute are as well equipped for physicochemical research as any in Germany but they are still suffering from lack of funds for new equipment. There are a t present fifty research workers carrying on scientific investigations a t the Institute. Professor Fritz Haber is its Director and Professor Herbert Freundlich is the Associate Director. In so far as the research work and research personnel is concerned the Institute is divided into two sections, one section is under the direction of Professor Haber, while the other is directed by Professor Freundlich. Professor Haher has under his direction three assistants, namely: Doctors Bonhoeffer, Kallman, and Matthias. Professor Freundlich also has three assistants. They are Doctors Zocher, Kantzky, and Ettisch. In addition there are two Fellows of the Institute, Professors Ladenburg and Polanyi. Each of these assistants and fellows has several investigators working under his direction and many of these are candidates for the doctorate. The Institute has a pleasant arrangement with the University of Berlin whereby candidates may carry on their investigations a t the Institute and present these researches as dissertations for the doctor's degree a t the University. A great variety of problems is being investigated in the Institute a t the present time. These researches range from investigations in pure physics to those in which physical chemistry is applied to biological problems. It will, therefore, be best to enumerate the particular types of research in progress. Professor Haber is personally directing researches in catalytic oxidation. Dr. Matthias is a t work, under his direction, completing the studies on the transmutation of the elements. In this work only negative results have been obtained. Professor Ladenburg and his co-workers are engaged in study in the field of pure physics. He is a t present investigating anomalous dispersiori in the spectra of gases. Professor Polanyi and his collaborators are a t present studying the chemiluminescence produced by the reactions of gases. They are also engaged 1 Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation 1927-1928, on leave from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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in researches on the adsorption of vapors from the thermodynamic point of view. At the same time Professor Polanyi is developing a method for the production of colloidal dispersions a t the temperature of liquid air. Dr. Bonhoeffer and his colleagues are continuing to investigate the properties of active nitrogen and active hydrogen. Dr. Kallman is a t present studying the nature of the products which result when electrons collide with gas molecules. A mass spectrograph is being used in this work. The section of the Institute which is under the direction of Professor Freundlich is chiefly concerned with researches in the field of colloid chemistry. He is personally directing researches on coagulation, adsorption, the colloidal properties of latex, and thixotropy. Thixotropy is that phe-
THEKAISER WILEELMINSTITUTE
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nomenon exhibited by concentrated colloidal solutions, of setting to gels which became fluid sols once more on shaking or on treatment by other mechanical means. Dr. Zocher and his co-workers are busily studying liquid crystals and sols with non-globular particles. These investigations are chiefly of an optical character. Dr. Kantzky and those associated with him are investigating chemiluminescence with special reference to surface reactions. They are also studying the colloidal behavior of the derivatives of calcium silicide. Dr. Ettisch and his collaborators are carrying colloid research into the field of physiology and they are also studying electrodialysis. In addition to the researches in progress the Institute holds a Colloquium every other Monday afternoon. Here the researches of the Institute are presented and discussed. Many helpful criticisms come out in
these meetings and much progress results. Members of the staff often give courses of lectures in the Institute as well as a t the University of Berlin. This gives plenty of opportunity for the students to hear the latest developments in science. It is evident from the above description that the Institute is investigating agreat variety of problems. It may also be seen that the Institute is well-balanced. A given investigator has available the suggestions and ideas of men in widely dlering fields of research. The character and number of publications coming from the Institute every year gives ample evidence of the efficiency of the organization. It may be of interest to note that five Americans are a t present pursuing investigations in the Institute. Three of these are Fellows of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. They are Professor Richard Bradfield of the University of Missouri, Professor Louis Heilbrun of the University of Michigan, and myself. The others are Mr. H. 0.Albrecht who came from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Dr. Harold Abramson of Columbia University who has been holding a Fellowship in Medicine from the National Research Council. Mr. Albrecht is investigating the chemiluminescence of certain organic substances for his doctorate. His home is in St. Paul, Minnesota. Dr. Abramson has been studying the electrophoresis of white blood cells and inert particles in dilute protein sols and protein gels. He has been applying this information to the physicochemical mechanism of the inflammatory process. The Americans find themselves very pleasantly situated a t the Institute and they are shown every consideration.
