Fluorine
Flúor (F, Z=9)
- Date
- 1886 · confidence high
- Place
- Paris, France
- Credited to
- Henri Moissan
- People
- 👤 Henri Moissan1852–1907
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
Moissan isolated fluorine by electrolysis of hydrogen fluoride and potassium fluoride in a platinum apparatus at low temperature, after decades of attempts that had cost lives.
Moissan received the 1906 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this achievement.
What it led to
- Fluoropolymers such as Teflon
- Refrigerants and uranium enrichment with UF6
- Water fluoridation and toothpaste
Built on
- Electrolysis
- Scheele's hydrofluoric acid
Made possible
- Teflon (PTFE)1938
- Uranium hexafluoride for centrifugation