Boris Petrovich Nikolsky (russian: Бори́с Петро́вич Нико́льский; – 4 January 1990) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

and

radiochemist Radiochemistry is the chemistry of radioactive materials, where radioactive isotopes of elements are used to study the properties and chemical reactions of non-radioactive isotopes (often within radiochemistry the absence of radioactivity leads to ...

, academician of the

Soviet Academy of Sciences The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991, uniting the country's leading scientists, subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (until 1946 ...

, and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

(then Leningrad)

State University A state university system in the United States is a group of public universities supported by an individual state, territory or federal district. These systems constitute the majority of public-funded universities in the country. State univers ...

. Boris Nikolsky was a 1925 graduate of

Leningrad State University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the G ...

. In the 1930s he studied the

ion exchange Ion exchange is a reversible interchange of one kind of ion present in an insoluble solid with another of like charge present in a solution surrounding the solid with the reaction being used especially for softening or making water demineralised, ...

processes between aqueous solutions and solids. During that time Nikolsky developed the theory of ion exchange in

glass electrode A glass electrode is a type of ion-selective electrode made of a doped glass membrane that is sensitive to a specific ion. The most common application of ion-selective glass electrodes is for the measurement of pH. The pH electrode is an example ...

s. He derived equations that describe properties of glass electrodes as well as other types of

ion-selective electrode An ion-selective electrode (ISE), also known as a specific ion electrode (SIE), is a transducer (or sensor) that converts the activity of a specific ion dissolved in a solution into an electrical potential. The voltage is theoretically dependent ...

s depending on chemical structure and multi-component composition of glass, concurrent interference of ions (see Nikolsky-Eisenman equation and Nikolsky- Shultz-Eisenman thermodynamic ion-exchange theory of GEA. A. Belyustin. Silver ion Response as a Test for the Multilayer Model of Glass Electrodes. —Electroanalysis. Volume 11, Issue 10-11, pp. 799—803. 1999.
/ref>) and so on. Boris Nikolsky also actively participated in the Soviet nuclear program. In 1952-1974 he was the senior scientist and the chairman of scientific committee at the Soviet nuclear fuel reprocessing plant

Mayak The Mayak Production Association (russian: Производственное объединение «Маяк», , from 'lighthouse') is one of the biggest nuclear facilities in the Russian Federation, housing a reprocessing plant. The closest ...

, where he worked on the technology of processing and refining of

plutonium Plutonium is a radioactive chemical element with the symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibi ...

. In 1961-1963 he was the chairman of the chemistry department at

General publications on the glass electrode theory

* Nikolskii, B. P.. Theory of the glass electrode. I. Theoretical. // J. Phys. Chem. (U.S.S.R.) (1937), 10, 495-503. *Nikolskii, B. P.; Tolmacheva, T. A. Theory of the glass electrode. II. Effect of boric anhydride and aluminum oxide on the electrode properties of glass. // J. Phys. Chem. (U.S.S.R.) (1937), 10, 504-12. *Nikolskii, B. P.; Tolmacheva, T. A. Theory of the glass electrode. III. Transfer from the hydrogen electrode function into the sodium function. // J. Phys. Chem. (U.S.S.R.) (1937), 10, 513-23. Boris Nikolsky was a co-author of the monumental textbook on physical chemistry and an editor-in-chief of the most comprehensive multivolume handbook of chemistry in Soviet Union.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikolsky, Boris Petrovich Soviet physical chemists Soviet inventors 1900 births 1990 deaths Scientists from Saint Petersburg Heroes of Socialist Labour Academic staff of Saint Petersburg State University Nuclear weapons program of the Soviet Union Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences