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Luigi Valentino Brugnatelli

Luigi Valentino Brugnatelli (also Luigi Gaspare Brugnatelli or Luigi Vincenzo Brugnatelli) (14 February 1761 in Pavia – 24 October 1818 in Pavia) was an Italian chemist and inventor who discovered the process for electroplating in 1805.[1]

Luigi Valentino Brugnatelli

Early life

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Born in Pavia, he attended the Pharmacy School created by Count Karl Joseph von Firmian at the University of Pavia where he was a pupil of Giovanni Antonio Scopoli who urged him to practice the medical profession, which he did without neglecting his interests in chemistry. Brugnatelli graduated in medicine in 1784 with a thesis on the chemical analysis of gastric juices.[2] He was also a pupil of Lazzaro Spallanzani.

Academic career and discoveries

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The Aula Magna at the University of Pavia - Brugnatelli taught here from 1796 to 1818

He occasionally taught at the University of Pavia where he became the head of chemistry teaching in 1796. In 1813 he became its Rector.

In 1798, Brugnatelli discovered the silver salt fulminic acid when he found that if silver was dissolved in nitric acid and the solution added to spirits of wine, a white, highly explosive powder was obtained.[3] Decades later in 1860 this silver fulminate was used by the confectioner Tom Smith to give the 'snap' to his new novelty - the Christmas cracker. A personal friend of Alessandro Volta, Brugnatelli accompanied him to Paris in 1801 to illustrate the invention of the voltaic pile.

In 1802, Brugnatelli successfully carried out the first gilding electroplating experiments[4] with the coating of carbon electrodes by a metallic film, finally refining the process in 1805 for which he used his colleague Volta's invention of five years earlier, the voltaic pile, to facilitate the first electrodeposition. He hypothesized that in the chemical pile there was also a transport of atoms, obtaining experimental evidence of this. He discovered the properties of coal cathodes as electrical conductors and succeeded in covering them with a metallic layer. He sensed the possible applications in the industrial field, sharing this procedure with a Pavese goldsmith, who used it.[5]

Due to an dispute with Napoleon, Brugnatelli did not publish his inventions with the French Academy of Sciences (though he did publish elsewhere), and they did not become used in general industry for the following thirty-to-forty years.[6][7][8][9][10] By 1839, scientists in Britain and Russia had independently devised metal-deposition processes similar to Brugnatelli's for the copper electroplating of printing press plates.

He was the first to adopt and make known in Italy the new theories and the new nomenclature introduced in chemistry by Antoine Lavoisier. He tried to introduce new concepts and new terminology (for example, instead of "lifeless" nitrogen he first proposed "light generator" and then "putrid" septone), but while these innovations gained some recognition even abroad they were ultimately not accepted.

In 1818, the year of his death, Brugnatelli was the first to prepare the compound alloxan, discovered by Justus von Liebig and Friedrich Wöhler.[11][12]

An editorial entrepreneur, Brugnatelli played a very important role in stimulating scientific publications in Italy, helping to spread advanced knowledge of chemistry, physics and natural sciences.[13] 

Luigi Valentino Brugnatelli died in his native Pavia in 1818 aged 57.

Publications

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Farmacopea generale, 1814

In addition to numerous minor works he wrote the following books and scientific journals:

  • Physical Library of Europe, 20 volumes, 1788 - 1791
  • Annals of Chemistry, 22 volumes 1790 - 1805
  • Physical-medical Journal, (in collaboration with Valeriano Luigi Brera ), 20 volumes, 1792 - 1796
  • Medical Commentaries (in collaboration with Valeriano Luigi Brera ), 3 volumes, 1797
  • Elements of Chemistry: supported by the most recent chemical and pharmaceutical discoveries (3 vols.), Pavia 1795-1798
  • Journal of Physics, Chemistry and Natural History, continued until after his death, 1808 - 1827 ;
  • Pharmacopoeia for use by apothecaries and modern doctors of the Italian Republic, Pavia 1802, trad. French: Pharmacopée générale, 2 volumes 1811
  • Elementary Treatise on General Chemistry (four editions: 1795, 1801, 1803, 1810 ).
  • Human Litilogy or Chemical and Medical Research. Posthumous work of Prof. LV Brugnatelli, published by Dr. Gaspare Brugnatelli. Pavia 1819.

Editions

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  • Elementi di chimica (in Italian). Vol. 1. Pavia: Bolzani. 1803.
  • Farmacopea generale (in Italian). Vol. 1. Pavia: Bolzani. 1814.
  • Trattato elementare di chimica generale (in Italian). Vol. 1. Pavia: Bolzani. 1810.

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Luigi Valentino Brugnatelli.
  1. ^ Mohler, James B. (1969). Electroplating and Related Processes. Chemical Publishing Co. ISBN 0-8206-0037-7.
  2. ^ 'Essay of a chemical analysis of 'gastric sauces', Selected pamphlets on the sciences and on the arts 7 (1784), p. 289-302
  3. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Fulminic Acid" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 299.
  4. ^ Treccani.it - "Luigi Valentino Brugnatelli"
  5. ^ "BRUGNATELLI, Luigi Valentino in "Dizionario Biografico"". www.treccani.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-11-24.
  6. ^ Weisberg, A. M. (1974). "Chapter 1: Historical Background". In Reid, Frank H.; Goldie, William (eds.). Gold Plating Technology. Ayr, Scotland: Electrochemical Publications Limited. pp. 3–11. Google Books fh0fAQAAIAAJ. Internet Archive goldplatingtechn0000unse. p. 3: Luigi V. Brugnatelli, a professor of chemistry in Pavia, was probably the first person to electrodeposit gold from solution. But an insult from Napoleon Bonaparte which led Brugnatelli to confine publication of his work solely to his own Journal in Pavia, Italy, buried the information for some thirty eight years. [...] Brugnatelli was a colleague and close friend of Allisandro Volta at the time the latter made his momentous discovery of the Voltaic Pile. The importance of a new and awesome power made a particular impression on French scientists and Napoleon Bonaparte, presumably in his position as a member of the National Academy, invited Volta to Paris to demonstrate his discovery. Brugnatelli accompanied him. Before or during the course of three lectures, Volta, after being presented to Napoleon, introduced Brugnatelli to Napoleon as "my colleague, the great Italian chemist". Napoleon turned away with the comment that there were no great chemists in Italy. Highly insulted, Brugnatelli returned to Pavia and never again communicated with the French Academy of Sciences. As a result, his early work with Volta using voltaic electricity on various metallic solutions was never published in Paris and therefore escaped major notice. His electro-reduction of metals, probably first performed in 1800, finally resulted in his "reviving" of gold. A letter he sent to the editor of the Belgian Journal of Physics and Chemistry in 1805, was partially reprinted in Britain. "I have lately gilt in a complete manner two large silver medals, by bringing them into communication by means of a steel wire, with the negative pole of a voltaic pile, and keeping them one after the other immersed in ammoniuret of gold newly made and well saturated."
  7. ^ Schlesinger, Mordechay (2004). "Electroplating". Kirk‐Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology. Vol. 9 (5th ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. pp. incl. 760. doi:10.1002/0471238961.0512050308151814.a01.pub2. ISBN 9780471238966. ISBN 9780471484943, 9780471238966 (print, online). Google Books CYgvAQAAIAAJ. Brugnatelli's early work using voltaic electricity enabled him to experiment with various plating solutions. By 1805, he had refined his process enough to plate a fine layer of gold over large silver metal objects. He wrote in a letter to the Belgian Journal of Physics and Chemistry (later reprinted in Britain), which reads: "I have lately gilt in a complete manner two large silver medals, by bringing them into communication by means of a steel wire, with a negative pole of a voltaic pile, and keeping them one after the other immersed in ammoniuret of gold newly made and well saturated." Unfortunately for Brugnatelli, a disagreement or falling out with the French Academy of Sciences, the leading scientific body of Europe at the time, prevented Brugnatelli's work from being published in the scientific journals of his day. His work remained largely unknown outside of his native Italy except for a small group of associates.
  8. ^ Özkan, Erhan (July 2006). "CHAPTER FOUR: ELECTRO CHEMICAL DEPOSITION PROCESS : 4.1 A Short History of Electrodeposition". Wear and Corrosion Behaviour of Electrochemically Deposited Bioactive Haydroxyapatite Coatings on Implant Materials [Turkish: İMPLANT MALZEME YÜZEYLERİNDE ELEKTROKİMYASAL OLARAK ÇÖKTÜRÜLEN BİYOAKTİF HİDROKSİAPATİT KAPLAMALARIN AŞINMA VE KOROZYON DAVRANIŞLARI] (M.Sc. thesis). İzmir, Turkey: Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü. pp. 47–60. ISBN 9798381797732. ProQuest 2957139910 (MAI 85/9(E), Masters Abstracts International, 30864321). p. 47: Unfortunately, a falling out with the French Academy of Sciences, the leading scientific body of Europe, prevented any of Brugnatelli's important work from being published in the scientific journals of his day. His work remained largely unknown outside of Italy, except for a small group of close associates.
  9. ^ Saxena, Sadhana (2013). "REVIEW OF LITERATURE". Electroforming: A Study Based on Physico-Chemical Properties of Metal Coating (Ph.D. thesis). Indore, India: Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Department of Chemistry. pp. 62–70. ISBN 9781085706612. ProQuest 2307191554 (DAI-B 81/2(E), Dissertation Abstracts International, 27531498). p. 63: Modern electrochemistry was invented by Italian chemist Luigi V. Brugnatelli in 1805. Brugnatelli used his colleague Alessandro Volta's invention of five years earlier, the voltaic pile, to facilitate the first electrodeposition. Brugnatelli's inventions were suppressed by the French Academy of Sciences and did not become used in general industry for the following thirty years.
  10. ^ Petro, Robert Andrew (16 May 2014). "Chapter 1: Introduction : 1.3 History of Deposition". Modern Applications of Novel Electroless Plating Techniques [French: Application modernes de nouvelles techniques de placage autocatalytique] (Ph.D. thesis). Windsor, Ontario, Canada: University of Windsor. pp. 4–11. ISBN 978-1-321-09164-9. ProQuest 1564222220 (DAI-B 75/11(E), Dissertation Abstracts International, 3630949). p. 5: In 1803, the first account of gold electroplating, Brugnatelli recounted the reduction of gold ions from a saturated gold solution to metal on the surface of two large silver medals by means of connection to the negative terminal of a voltaic pile. Despite the development, Brugnatelli's work was largely unknown outside his native Italy. Due to the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) and an apparent falling out between Brugnatelli and the French Academy of Sciences, the leading scientific body of Europe at the time, little work was conducted on electroplating until the mid-1830s.
  11. ^ Luigi Valentino Brugnatelli; also cited as: Luigi Gaspari Brugnatelli and Luigi Vincenzo Brugnatelli.
  12. ^ See:
  13. ^ 'Luigi Valentino Brugnatelli - The first electroplater journeys into history' - Part 4 - Galvanotechnik 103(10):2172-2180, October 2012

Bibliography

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  • U. Baldini, "Brugnatelli, Luigi Valentino", in Biographical Dictionary of Italians, vol. 14, Rome, 1972, pp. 494–496.
  • Luigi Valentino Brugnatelli, Travel Diary in Switzerland and France with Alessandro Volta in 1801, edited by Alberto Gigli Berzolari, Bologna, Cisalpino, 1997 ("Sources and studies for the history of the University of Pavia" 28) - ISBN 8820507986
  • A. Cattaneo, "Notes on the Life of LV Brugnatelli", Pharmacy Library - Chemistry - Physics - Medicine - Surgery - Therapeutic - Natural History, etc. , Series 2, Volume 5 (January 1836), pp. III-XXIV
  • Francesco Selmi, Handbook of the art of gilding and silvering with electro-chemical methods and simple immersion, compiled by F. Selmi on the writings and works of Brugnatelli, Boquillon, etc. , Reggio Emilia, 1844.
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