The new exhibition in the Physics and Chemistry CRAI Library commemorates the centenary of the birth of surface science
On October 18, at 12 noon, the collection of the Physics and Chemistry CRAI Library opens its new exhibition “Irving Langmuir i el Naixement de la Ciència de Superfícies”.
On October 18, at 12 noon, the collection of the Physics and Chemistry CRAI Library opens its new exhibition “Irving Langmuir i el Naixement de la Ciència de Superfícies”.
The opening ceremony, which will take place at the Aula Magna Enric Casassas in the faculties of Physics and Chemistry of the UB, will include the conference “Langmuir, un científico americano” given by Professor Miguel Angel Cabrerizo, from the University of Granada.
The exhibition is chaired by Professor Francesc Mas and the tenured university lecturer Jordi Ingés-Mullol, both from the Department of Materials Science and Physical Chemistry, and it commemorates the 19171 publication of the design of the first surface through named after Irving Langmuir, which enables the preparation and study of layers of the nanometric density in water surface.
Surface science: the basis of detergency
Apart from the main publications By Irving Langmuir, the exhibition offers a selection of books on different aspects of surface science. There will be a Langmuir and Langmuir-Blodgett through with which surface tension of liquids can be measured and solid surface nanometric covering can be prepared. Also, there is an exhibition on soap and detergency, explaining the functioning of these daily use substances -based on its adsorption in the water-oil interphase- and shows examples of the uses of the adsorption on active coal in water cleaning.
This event marks the birth of modern surface science, essential in the development of catalysers for the sustainable synthesis of organic compounds or degradation of toxic substances. In addition, it enabled the development of materials with new functions, such as anti-reflective lenses, tissues that cannot get dirty, or prosthesis implants to improve their integration in the body.
Irving Langmuir (1881-1957) received the Chemistry Nobel Prize in 1932 for his findings and research on surface chemistry. He worked at the General Electric Company (New York) improve the stability and length of metal filaments in incandescent lights -among other things, and was pioneer in observing the stability of absorbed monolayers on tungsten and platinum filaments. These studies led him to create a general theory on absorbed monolayers, introducing the known Langmuir isotherm.
The exhibition can be visited during the academic year 2017-2018 in the Hemeroteca of the Physics and Chemistry CRAI Library (Diagonal, 645).