Elementar is a German multinational manufacturer of elemental analyzers and isotope ratio mass spectrometers for the analysis of non-metallic elements like

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...

nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...

sulphur Sulfur (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundance of the chemical ...

hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...

oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between ...

. The company emerged from

Heraeus Heraeus is a German technology group with a focus on precious and special metals, medical technology, quartz glass and sensors as well as electronic components. Founded in Hanau in 1851, the company is one of the largest family-owned companies ...

, a multinational German engineering company that produced analytical instrumentation. Elemental analyzers and isotope ratio mass spectrometers are used in the fields of analytical and environmental chemistry to measure the elemental and isotopic composition of diverse materials like chemicals, pharmaceuticals, fuels, food, water, plants, soil or waste.

History

1897 – 1945

Heraeus historic elemental analyzer 1932

In 1897, the researcher Max Dennstedt reported a simplified method for organic elemental analysis in his publication ''Über Vereinfachung der organischen Elementaranalyse'', making use of platinum from the

Platinum Smelting Factory (founded in 1857) as an oxidation catalyst. In 1899, Richard Küch, researcher at the Heraeus Platinum Smelting Factory, succeeded in producing quartz glass of very high purity, which was soon used for the

elemental analysis Elemental analysis is a process where a sample of some material (e.g., soil, waste or drinking water, bodily fluids, minerals, chemical compounds) is analyzed for its elemental and sometimes isotopic composition. Elemental analysis can be qualita ...

, and

. Between 1900 and 1910, Max Dennstedt substantially improved the procedures of elemental analyses, which was the basis for the first generation of elemental analyzers with electrical furnaces produced by Heraeus. In 1923,

Fritz Pregl Fritz Pregl (; 3 September 1869 – 13 December 1930), was a Slovenian-Austrian chemist and physician from a mixed Slovene- German-speaking background. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1923 for making important contributions to quantitati ...

received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his ''invention of the method of micro-analysis of organic substances'', using dedicated analytical equipment manufactured by Heraeus. In 1932, the first elemental analyzer for simultaneous detection of

and

was invented. In 1944 and 1945, the town of

Hanau Hanau () is a city in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is 25 km east of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main and part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its railway Hanau Hauptbahnhof, station is a ma ...

, an important German industrial site, as well as Heraeus production facilities, were nearly completely destroyed in Allied

bombing raid Strategic bombing is a systematically organized and executed military attack from the air which can utilize strategic bombers, long- or medium-range missiles, or nuclear-armed fighter-bomber aircraft to attack targets deemed vital to the enemy' ...

Since 1945

Elementar modern elemental analyzer 2011

After the Second World War, the company diversified its elemental analysis products, but an extensive reorganization of the

core business divisions in the early 1990s resulted in plans to discontinue the production of elemental analyzers. In 1995, the elemental analysis business of Heraeus was sold in a

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management- and/or leveraged buyouts became noted phenomena of 19 ...

to Hans-Peter Sieper, at that time head of the Heraeus elemental analysis division. Hans-Peter Sieper restructured the business under the brand name Elementar. Under his management, the company grew into a global company group with offices in the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and operations in many other countries. In 2008, Elementar acquired Isoprime Ltd., a company specialised on the construction of isotope ratio mass spectrometers (IRMS), and set the basis for entry into the market of stable isotope ratio analysis. Following a decision in 2016 to consolidate all products under a single identity the IRMS products were re-branded from the beginning of 2017 as Elementar and Isoprime Ltd was renamed Elementar UK Ltd at the same time.

Corporate structure

Elementar

Elementar is specialized in the development and production of elemental analyzers for the measurement of

and

for product quality and purity control of food, fuels, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The production facility is located in

Langenselbold Langenselbold () is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated on the river Kinzig, 10 km east of Hanau Hanau () is a city in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is 25 km east of Frankfurt, Frankfu ...

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

, Germany.

Elementar UK (formerly known as Isoprime)

Elementar UK produces isotope ratio mass spectrometers used for stable isotope ratio measurement of

and

in industry and academia. The production facility is located in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, United Kingdom. In 2013, the company was awarded The Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade (Export).

Customers

Elementar supplies instrumentation to manufacturing companies and service providers in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, the energy sector, food industry and agriculture.https://www.elementar.com/en/applications ''Elementar Applications''. Website of Elementar. Retrieved 2020-11-09.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official Company Website

Technology companies of Germany Companies based in Hesse Technology companies established in 1897 1897 establishments in Germany