Anton Eduard van Arkel, (19 November 1893 – 14 March 1976) was a Dutch

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

Biography

In the early 1920s Van Arkel, together with Jan Hendrik de Boer, working for Philips NV, developed the Van Arkel–de Boer process for the preparation of pure

titanium Titanium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...

: the

decomposition Decomposition is the process by which dead organic substances are broken down into simpler organic or inorganic matter such as carbon dioxide, water, simple sugars and mineral salts. The process is a part of the nutrient cycle and is ess ...

of the vapor of

titanium tetrachloride Titanium tetrachloride is the inorganic compound with the formula . It is an important intermediate in the production of titanium metal and the pigment titanium dioxide. is a volatile liquid. Upon contact with humid air, it forms thick clouds o ...

on an incandescent

tungsten Tungsten (also called wolfram) is a chemical element; it has symbol W and atomic number 74. It is a metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively in compounds with other elements. It was identified as a distinct element in 1781 and first ...

filament. This method was later used for other metals, including

zirconium Zirconium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Zr and atomic number 40. First identified in 1789, isolated in impure form in 1824, and manufactured at scale by 1925, pure zirconium is a lustrous transition metal with a greyis ...

and

hafnium Hafnium is a chemical element; it has symbol Hf and atomic number 72. A lustrous, silvery gray, tetravalent transition metal, hafnium chemically resembles zirconium and is found in many zirconium minerals. Its existence was predicted by Dm ...

. In 1941 he published the Van Arkel–Ketelaar triangle, a diagrammatic method to depict the chemical bonds that would form between elements in the periodic table. Van Arkel suggested the names "

pnictogen , - ! colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , ↓ Period , - ! 2 , , - ! 3 , , - ! 4 , , - ! 5 , , - ! 6 , , - ! 7 , , - , colspan="2", ---- ''Legend'' A pnictogen ( or ; from "to choke" and -gen, "generator") is any ...

" and "pnictide" to refer to chemical elements in group 15 (the nitrogen group or nitrogen family) of the periodic table. In 1962 Van Arkel became member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to various advisory a ...

. Van Arkel published at least one textbook, ''Molecules and Crystals'', in 1941 in his native language. In 1949 this work was translated to English.

References

* H.A.M. Snelders
''Arkel, Anton Eduard van (1893-1976)''
in Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland.
E.J.W. Verwey: 'Levensbericht A.E. van Arkel'. In: ''Jaarboek KNAW'', 1976, Amsterdam, pp. 184-192
1893 births 1976 deaths 20th-century Dutch chemists People from 's-Gravenzande Utrecht University alumni Academic staff of Leiden University Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Dutch inventors {{Netherlands-scientist-stub

Biography

See also

References