The scientist who wrestled with "Reaper"

chemical element fluorine

The preparation process of fluorine lasted for more than a century. In the history of discovery of chemical elements, it can be regarded as the discovery with the longest duration, the largest number of chemists involved, and the most dangerous discovery.

Fluorine is therefore also known as the "grim reaper" of chemistry. So, who are the warriors who dare to wrestle with the "Reaper", and what harm did fluorine do to them?

In 1771, the Swedish chemist Scheler obtained a fluoride-hydrofluoric acid when he heated a mixture of fluorite and sulfuric acid.

Although Scheler discovered fluoride, he did not realize that it contained an unknown element at that time, and it was the famous physicist Ampere who really started the journey of chemists to extract fluorine.

Ampere predicted that there is an unknown element in hydrofluoric acid, and named it "fluorine".

In 1813, Humphrey David, a British scientist with the title of "King of Chemical Elements", agreed with Ampere's letter after receiving his letter, and began to try to use electrochemical methods to decompose fluoride.

As a result, he was injured by the thick smoke generated during the experiment, and the experiment of extracting fluorine element ended in failure.

More than twenty years later, in 1836, the Knox brothers in Scotland hoped to produce simple fluorine by heating chlorine gas and mercury fluoride. Not only did it fail in the end, but one of them died of poisoning, and the other lay on the hospital bed for 3 years.

Chemists who were harmed by fluorine include Ruyette in Belgium, Nickrey and Ferremy in France, Cole in the United Kingdom, etc., and the number of people who died for it has continued to increase since then.

Until more than 100 years later, the French chemist Moissan improved David's electrolysis method, and at the same time added a refrigerant to keep the experimental temperature below minus 23 degrees Celsius.

On June 26, 1886, Moissan finally produced the elemental fluorine.

The "devil" shows a hideous face

Use professional equipment to add Freon

Elemental fluorine was extracted, and the sacrifice of chemists seemed to be over, but the harm of fluorine to human beings and the environment did not stop.

In 1928, American chemist Thomas Midgley synthesized a non-toxic fluoride - Freon. It was not until 1974 that scientists realized that the application of CFCs would cause serious damage to the ozone layer.

dupont

In the 1990s, DuPont used a fluoride called perfluorooctanoic acid in the production of polytetrafluoroethylene, polluting local water sources and soil. As of October 2015, more than 3,500 people have filed lawsuits against DuPont. In the end, DuPont paid about 600 million U.S. dollars in compensation, and announced in 2013 to stop the production and use of PFOA. Today, some other companies in the world are also gradually stopping the use of PFOA.

The other side of "devil" is "angel"

Fluorinated pharmaceutical products

A detailed count of fluorine, from research to application, is always accompanied by sacrifice and harm, but is fluorine really harmful to people but not beneficial? In fact, people now have a more comprehensive understanding of fluorine, and fluorine is widely used in pesticides, medicine, materials, atomic energy, aerospace and other fields more scientifically. While using fluorine to improve life, we are also working hard to make it live more harmoniously with humans and the environment.

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