Abstract
IN the April and May numbers of the Journal of Physical Chemistry, Mr. Wilder D. Bancroft contributes two long articles under this heading, long chiefly because of the very extensive quotations from the writings of Grotthuss, Herschel, H. W. Vogel, E. Vogel, Timiriazeff, Acworth, v. Hübl, Botharhley, and others whose work bears upon the subject. The object of the communication is “to bring the various catalytic actions of light under one head so far as possible,” and to show that this may be done by accepting two laws enunciated by Grotthuss some ninety years ago:—(1) that only those rays of light which are absorbed can produce chemical action; (2) that the action of a ray of light is analogous to that of a voltaic cell. The action, therefore, is regarded as electrolytic, and sensitisers, whether “optical” or “chemical,” are viewed as depolarisers. The fundamental conception of Grotthuss, that the action of light is essentially electrolytic in character, is held to be sound and to accord with modern notions, though the language in which he expressed it may be somewhat obscure.
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J., C. The Electrochemistry of Light . Nature 78, 356–357 (1908). https://doi.org/10.1038/078356a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/078356a0