Mond, Ludwig

Mond, Ludwig, 1839–1909, chemist; father of Alfred Moritz Mond, 1st Baron Melchett. He was born in Germany and became a naturalized British subject. Mond experimented with alkalies and also developed a producer gas known by his name. He was cofounder and director of Brunner-Mond (1872), which became the world's largest producer of alkalies. Another outstanding discovery of his was nickel carbonyl, a gas formed from carbon monoxide and metallic nickel. Mond developed a valuable method known as the Mond process for extracting nickel from its ores by use of this carbonyl. In the process, carbon monoxide passing over the crushed and smelted ore containing nickel produces the volatile nickel carbonyl; this is decomposed to yield metallic nickel.

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