Gas mantles

Gas mantles

Exotic Solar Technologies

Published in Anco S. Blazev, Solar Technologies for the 21st Century, 2021

Thermo-photovoltaics (TPV) is the generation of electricity in low-band-gap solar cells from the radiant energy emitted by conventional sources of heat. Gas, coal, wood, nuclear fuel and petrol all burn at temperatures in the range 500±2500 K, radiating energy over a relatively broad spectrum like the sun, but at longer wavelengths. This can be converted into electricity by low band gap cells. Recent interest has been stimulated by the possibility of surrounding the source by an “emitter” which re-radiates in a narrower spectrum rather like an old-fashioned gas mantle.

The Meandering Life of a Research Trajectory: Rare Earths in the Aubervilliers Research Centre (1953–2020)

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Journal Information

Published in Ambix, 2021

Marcin Krasnodębski

The trajectory we study in this paper is intertwined with the history of the rare earth industry in general. In fact, the rare earth industry in France did not emerge separately but shares a common origin with the German industry. Auer von Welsbach (1858–1929), an Austrian chemist, was known for the discovery of (at least) two rare earth elements: neodymium and praseodymium. An expert in the field, in 1885 he patented a gas mantle that used a chemical mixture of rare earth element oxides (yttrium oxide and lanthanum oxide) and magnesium oxide, and then, in 1890, another one based on thorium oxide and cerium oxide.10 These gas mantles became widely popular and were used in streetlights throughout Europe. Auer's company opened for business in France in 1892, and in the following years, it established a factory in Serquigny in Normandy to avoid the tariffs imposed on German products.11

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Exotic Solar Technologies

The Meandering Life of a Research Trajectory: Rare Earths in the Aubervilliers Research Centre (1953–2020)