Karl Ziegler, (born Nov. 26, 1898, Helsa, near Kassel, Ger.—died Aug. 12, 1973, Mülheim, W.Ger.), German chemist. He held academic appointments at the Universities of Frankfurt am Main, Heidelberg, and Halle, and in 1943 he became director of the Kaiser Wilhelm (later Max Planck) Institute. He was the first to explain the reactions involved in the synthesis of rubber (c. 1928). His most important work, in the 1950s, led to the discovery that certain catalysts permitted the fast polymerization of ethylene at atmospheric pressure to a linear polymer of high molecular weight having valuable plastic properties. His work formed the basis of nearly all later developments in the production of long-chain polymers of hydrocarbons from such olefins as ethylene and butadiene; the resulting products came into widespread use as plastics, fibres, rubbers, and films. He shared a 1963 Nobel Prize with Giulio Natta (1903–79).
Karl Ziegler Article
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Nobel Prize Summary
Nobel Prize, any of the prizes (five in number until 1969, when a sixth was added) that are awarded annually from a fund bequeathed for that purpose by the Swedish inventor and industrialist Alfred Nobel. The Nobel Prizes are widely regarded as the most prestigious awards given for intellectual
polymer Summary
Polymer, any of a class of natural or synthetic substances composed of very large molecules, called macromolecules, that are multiples of simpler chemical units called monomers. Polymers make up many of the materials in living organisms, including, for example, proteins, cellulose, and nucleic
chemistry Summary
Chemistry, the science that deals with the properties, composition, and structure of substances (defined as elements and compounds), the transformations they undergo, and the energy that is released or absorbed during these processes. Every substance, whether naturally occurring or artificially