Hydrogen and platinum lighter (Döbereiner's lamp)
Encendedor de hidrógeno y platino (lámpara de Döbereiner)
- Date
- 1823 · confidence high
- Place
- Jena, Thuringia, Germany
- Credited to
- Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner
- Field
- Tools
What it is
A device in which hydrogen from zinc and sulphuric acid strikes a platinum sponge that glows and ignites the gas. It was the first successful commercial lighter, before the match.
Its household use was brief because platinum was costly and friction matches arrived in 1826-1827.
What it led to
- instant fire lighting without tinder or flint
- catalysis as a chemical phenomenon studied in the 19th century
- later gas and spark lighters