Józef Zawadzki (July 14, 1886 in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

– February 22, 1951 in Zalesie, near Warsaw) was a Polish physical chemist and technologist. Father of Tadeusz (''Zośka'') and Anna Zawadzka. Zawadzki was a co-founder, President and Vice-President of the Polskie Towarzystwo Chemiczne. He was a professor (from 1923) and rector (1936–1939) of

Warsaw University of Technology The Warsaw University of Technology () is one of the leading institutes of technology in Poland and one of the largest in Central Europe. It employs 2,453 teaching faculty, with 357 professors (including 145 titular professors). The student body ...

, and a member of the Polish Academy of Learning (since 1947). The oldest and largest traditional lecture hall at the Warsaw University of Technology is named Prof. Józef Zawadzki Auditorium.

Research

His main field of research was physicochemical fundamentals of chemical technology. He was researching contact

oxidation Redox ( , , reduction–oxidation or oxidation–reduction) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of the reactants change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is ...

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the chemical formula, formula . A Binary compounds of hydrogen, stable binary hydride and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinctive pu ...

naphthalene Naphthalene is an organic compound with formula . It is the simplest polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, and is a white Crystal, crystalline solid with a characteristic odor that is detectable at concentrations as low as 0.08 Parts-per notation ...

and anthracene, mechanism of ammonia oxidation on platinum at low temperatures, reduction of iron dioxide by a

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes ...

, methods of obtaining

aluminium oxide Aluminium oxide (or aluminium(III) oxide) is a chemical compound of aluminium and oxygen with the chemical formula . It is the most commonly occurring of several Aluminium oxide (compounds), aluminium oxides, and specifically identified as alum ...

from Polish

kaolinite Kaolinite ( ; also called kaolin) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral sheet of alumina () ...

and aluminosilicate, use of Polish anhydrite and

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...

deposit to production

sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen, ...

and cementum, kinematics of thermal dissociation. Under the German occupation of Poland during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was involved in the clandestine operation of the Warsaw University of Technology. Together with Marceli Struszyński, Zawadzki analyzed captured German

V-2 rocket The V2 (), with the technical name ''Aggregat (rocket family), Aggregat-4'' (A4), was the world's first long-range missile guidance, guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed during the S ...

for its fuel composition. In 1947, he was recognized with a Doctor Honoris Causa.Technikum Chemiczne nr 3 in Warsaw, Poland
retrieved 2008-05-28.

Mechanism of ammonia oxidation on platinum at low temperatures

The mechanism of ammonia oxidation on platinum at low temperature was postulated by F. Rachsig (1927) and later adapted by Zawadzki (1948, 1950) to proceed via formation on imide (NH). In this proposal formation of nitroxyl and

hydrazine Hydrazine is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a simple pnictogen hydride, and is a colourless flammable liquid with an ammonia-like odour. Hydrazine is highly hazardous unless handled in solution as, for example, hydraz ...

( N₂ H₄) is involved:Sobczyk (2003), p. 6. : NH₃ + O_(a) → NH_(a) + H₂O : NH_(a) + O_(a) → HNO_(a) + * : NH_(a) + NH₃ → N₂H_4(a) : HNO_(a) + NH₃ → N₂H_4(a) + ½O₂ : N₂H_4(a) + O₂ → N₂ + 2H₂O + * Later, Y. M. Fogel (1964) disproved the Zawadzki theory that NH is formed via the oxidation of ammonia. In his proposal, N O is an important intermediate of the reaction. The formation of N₂ O is not detected, therefore the mechanism does not involve its production.

Works

* ''Technologia chemiczna nieorganiczna'' vol. 1–2 (1948–1949)

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zawadzki, Jozef 1886 births 1951 deaths Scientists from Warsaw Warsaw University of Technology alumni Academic staff of the Warsaw University of Technology Polish physical chemists Burials at Powązki Cemetery