Barbara Zsusanna Neumann (; 30 November 1914 – 25 November 2002) was a Hungarian

mineralogist Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

scientist who invented the

synthetic Synthetic may refer to: Science * Synthetic biology * Synthetic chemical or compound, produced by the process of chemical synthesis * Synthetic elements, chemical elements that are not naturally found on Earth and therefore have to be created in ...

clay laponite. In 2022, the

Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland (now known as the Mineralogical Society of the United Kingdom and Ireland) was founded in 1876. Its main purpose is to disseminate scientific knowledge of the Mineral Sciences (mineralogy) as ...

named their senior medal in her honour.

Biography

Neumann () was born in

Szolnok Szolnok (; also known by #Name and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county in central Hungary. A city with county rights, it is located on the banks of the Tisza river, in the heart of the Great Hungarian ...

, Hungary on 30 November 1914, to Jewish parents. She moved to

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, and completed a degree in physics, and doctorate in

X-ray diffraction X-ray diffraction is a generic term for phenomena associated with changes in the direction of X-ray beams due to interactions with the electrons around atoms. It occurs due to elastic scattering, when there is no change in the energy of the waves. ...

. In 1939, she married Gyorgy Emődi. Emődi was conscripted into the army and died of

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

early in

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 ...

. During her PhD, Neumann studied the mineralogical structures of clays using X-ray diffraction. One of the samples she worked on was a natural clay called

Fuller's earth Fuller's earth is a term for various clays used as an absorbent, filter, or bleaching agent. Products labeled fuller's earth typically consist of palygorskite (also known as attapulgite) or bentonite. Primary modern uses include as absorbents ...

, provided by the Fuller's Earth Union. In 1939, Neumann wrote to the FEU suggesting that she could help to improve their product. Following an interview, Neumann secured a job with the company, and moved to

Redhill, Surrey Redhill () is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead within the county of Surrey, England. The town, which adjoins the town of Reigate to the west, is due south of London Borough of Croydon, Croydon in ...

. Fuller's Earth Union limited merged with Laporte industries in 1954, but Neumann remained with the company until she retired, aged 60, in 1974. In 1962, Neumann patented a synthetic

hectorite Hectorite is a rare soft, greasy, white clay mineral with a chemical formula of . Hectorite was first described in 1941 and named for an occurrence in the United States near Hector, California (in San Bernardino County, California, 30 miles east ...

clay, which she called laponite. It became the first synthetic clay mineral that became commercially successful, with uses in products from paints and coatings to catalysts and composites. Laponite was patented in 1970 in the United States. Laponite is a

nanomaterial Nanomaterials describe, in principle, chemical substances or materials of which a single unit is sized (in at least one dimension) between 1 and 100 nm (the usual definition of nanoscale). Nanomaterials research takes a materials science ...

, made up of very small disk-shaped crystals that usually forms a fine white powder. It was one of the first examples of a nanomaterial to be manufactured on an industrial scale. Laponite is registered to and manufactured by BYK Additives & Instruments, and is used in many applications, due to its versatility and desirable physical and chemical properties. Laponite is mentioned in over 3000 patents and in more than 2500 research publications and was instrumental in the development of the first non-drip paints, among other products. Through her career, Neumann was an active member of the Clay Minerals special interest group (CMG) of the Mineralogical Society. She was the first female chair of the CMG from 1967 to 1969. In April 1949, Neumann married Franz Neumann, an Austrian refugee. They had two children, born in 1950 and 1952. Franz Neumann died in 1971. Neumann died on 25 November 2002, after a stroke. In 2022, the Mineralogical Society renamed their senior medal for 'excellence in mineralogy' the Neumann Medal, in honour of Neumann and in recognition of her contributions to the field of mineralogy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neumann, Barbara 1914 births 2002 deaths Women mineralogists Crystallographers Jewish Hungarian scientists Hungarian women physicists 20th-century women scientists