Academician B. Baranowski

80th anniversary of Academician B. Baranowski Professor Bogdan Baranowski was born 27.10.1927 in Kępno, northern-east from Wrocław. His personality was formed by interwar conditions on territory of former Prussian conquest, and the difficult war and occupation times. As from the youth years he was interested in chemistry, he undertook the chemical studies at the University and Technical University in Wrocław (1947-51). His scientific career developed quickly. Yet before graduation, as outstandingly talented, became an assistant at the new created Department of Physical Chemistry, directed by Prof. K.Gumiński. In 1954 they both moved to the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, where he worked at the new created Department of Theoretical Chemistry. Two years later, invited by the Institute of Physical Chemistry Baranowski came to Warsaw to the Department of Physicochemistry of Electrode Processes, directed by Prof. M.Śmiałowski. Soon after he became the candidate of sciences (1956) and in 1964 - at the age of 37 years, received professor title. From 1956 his career, characterized by numerous stays abroad, has been strictly connected with the Institute of Physical Chemistry. Since 1960 he directed a department and 5 years later became Head of his own scientific group – the Department of Physical Chemistry of Solids. The scientific papers of Professor Baranowski characterize a large variety. At the beginning they concerned mainly on thermo- and electrothermodiffusion in liquid solutions. Baranowski elaborated a thermodiffusion method for separation of electrolytes, and as the first applied the irreversible thermodynamics and statistical mechanics to surface systems. The next achievement was the phenomenological theory of thermodiffusion in liquid metallic alloys. In electrolyte solutions he extended Deby’s salt effects theory and discovered the influence of chemical reactions on thermodiffusion. Among his first papers one finds also the semi-empirical theory of antyraoultic properties of liquid solutions. Professor Baranowski was greatly interested in irreversible thermodynamics. Until half of 60’s, arrised his most important theoretical papers on this discipline. One of the achievements was the extent of theory of dissipative structures, (definied by I.Prigogine), and the proposition of their classification. He explained, that the development of biological organisms are in agreement with the II law of thermodynamics. Besides the adoptions mentioned above, he extended a contribution to the description of thermodiffusion in multiatomic gases; described transfer processes in multicomponent two-phase systems and in liquids under non-hydrostatic pressures, gave the phenomenological theory of electrotransport in solid metallic alloys. Later, the irreversible thermodynamics was adopted by him for membrane processes and for the description of diffusion in metals under pressure. As the fruit of numerous papers arised the monograph entitled: “Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics in Physical Chemistry” (1974, was published in Polish and German). The crucial event in scientific work of Professor Baranowski was the discovery of the hydride phase in electrochemically saturated nickel (1958), what led to the construction of the first hydrogen high pressure vessel. This opened a new trend, causing, that his research from this time was connected mainly with metal hydrides under high pressures. There were investigations of thermodynamic properties of metal-hydrogen systems, the electrical and magnetic properties under hydrogen pressures, the absorption and desorption kinetics, and the penetration depths of hydride phases. Baranowski was the first, who synthesized by high pressure method hydrides of nickel (1966), chromium (1972), manganese (1975) and aluminium (1983) and gave their thermodynamic characteristic. After the hydrides syntheses followed deuterides of nickel, and chromium. He also examinated the properties of systems, such as: Ni-Mn-H, Ni-Co-H(D), Ni-Cu-H, Ni-Fe-H, Ni-Cr-H, Pd-Rh-H, Pd-Pt-H, Pd-Ag-H and Pd-Ni-H. Using high pressure apparatus he obtained the stoichiometric palladium hydride and contributed to the discovery of its superconductivity. Besides transition metals, the subject of his investigations were also light and rare earth metals, solid organic compounds and at least – the phase transitions in crystals of acidic salts. Among the multitude (340) of his papers, one finds also those on metallic hydrogen, the electrochemical analogon of the Benard problem, and strictly polemic papers. All of these present his extended scientific interests and large assiduity.

Due to his investigations on Me-H systems, a new field of research was created – the high pressure hydrogen apparatus. Devices constructed in his laboratory enables not only the synthesis, but also in-situ measurements of: Xray diffraction, calorimetry, compressibility of liquids and solids, electrical transport properties (including low-temperature measurements), and the electrochemical measurements. Many of them are now used in other laboratories.
Professor is a member of editorial committees: Polish Journal of Chemistry, Journal of Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics, Journal of Alloys and Compounds and High Pressure Research. Especially he was active in Polish Journal of Chemistry, as editor in chief in the years 1991-2004. When he took on this function, this journal was in difficult conditions.
His talent and personal features caused, that he was many times invited abroad as well as performed different functions in scientific - Polish and international organizations. Thus, he was a member of executive committees of European High Pressure Research Group (1976- 1980 and 1982-1986) and Federation of European Chemical Societies (1977-1984). Since 1975 he was a member of the “International Association for the Advancement of High Pressure in Science and Technology” – AIRAPT, where between 1981-1985 he was Vice President, and in the years 1989-1993 – he was its President. Independently he was a participant in the international advisory and organizing committees, last years as a chairperson of international conferences “Hydrogen Materials Science and Chemistry of Carbon Nanomaterials” (ICHMS) in Ukraine.
Since 1951 Professor Baranowski is a member of Polish Chemical Society, for many years being active in its Executive Committee, and between 1974-1979 playing the role of President. This organization idebts him inspiration of every year congresses (first from cycle in 1964) as well as the creation of many new sections. In proof of his great merities, in 1987 he was granted the Honorary Member and in 1997 - the Honorary President of this society.
The outstanding scientific achievements brought to Professor Baranowski many awards and honours. The first, admitted already in 1957 by Polish Chemical Society, was the prize for the young scientists; the first prestigious were: the Award of Maria Skłodowska-Curie (1973), admitted by Polish Academy of Sciences and the Burke medal of Faraday Society (1973).
In 1974 Professor Baranowski was granted by membership of Polish Academy of Sciences, where in years (1981-1984) he was the President of Committee of Chemical Sciences. Later he also became the membership of Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher “Leopoldina” (1976), Polish Society for Advanced of Science and Arts –TPKN (1981), Warsaw Learned Society (1981), the International Academy of Sciences (1986), Deutsche Bunsen Geselschaft für Physikalische Chemie (1989) Academy of Sciences of GDR (1990), and the foreign member of Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences (1994).
Between his numerous awards the most prestigious are: doctor honoris causa of the Chalmers University in Göteborg (Sweden), admitted in 1983, and the medal of Bridgman, received from AIRAPT (1995). One should mention also gold decoration for merited for Warsaw (1974) J.Śniadecki medal (1984) by Polish Chemical Society, award of the Prime Minister of Republic of Poland (1994), and the medal addmited by Institute of Physical Chemistry PAS (1997).
Many times Professor Baranowski delivered invited lectures. Besides of those, connected with awards (1973 and 1983), there were: the lecture in Moscow (1975), the lecture of Świętosławski (1980), the lecture in Leopoldina (1983), the “August-Wilhelm-von- Hofmann-Lectureship” of German Chemical Society (1987), the lecture of Basiński (1997) and the Jost lecture of German Bunsen Society (1998).
Professor collaborated with scientisits from many countries, especially intensive was his collaboration with institutes in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Northern Ireland, United States, and Sweden. Among his honours, the separate place have positions of invited professor: at Mining Academy in Freiberg, at the University of Hanower, and at the Solid State Physics Institute of Max Planck in Stuttgart and the research grant of the Royal Society. In the group of his many foreign coworkers are such scientists as: the Nobel prizer- I.Prigogine, F.A. Lewis, T.B. Flanagan and E.Wicke. Professor Baranowski has educated many theoretical and experimental scientists, who are now mostly laboring in other departments at the Institute and other cities. Two of them are Professors. He was a reviewer or superreviever of several dissertations, qualifying for assistant-professor-ship, and promoted 20 doctoral theses. During the stay in Freiberg 1971-1972 he lectured on irreversible thermodynamics.
Professor Baranowski has already now come to the history, as one of the most outstanding physico-chemists of XX century, known from the fields of solid state chemistry, thermodynamics of irreversible processes, thermodiffusion, and high hydrogen pressure research.
Professor Baranowski is a man of sharply outlined personality and non-hesitative opinions. Gifted by the Nature by shrewd and critical brain; requiring for the other people, but helpful in the face of difficulties. Always full of creative energy and ideas. For those, who indeed love science, he is the best friend, like the best father.