Graham Prize

Thomas Graham (12/21/1805 – 9/11/1869) was a Scottish physicist who studied many types of different colloidal systems. From 1826 he studied the diffusion of gases and invented Graham’s famous law of effusion. Later he researched the structures of phosphates and arsenates. The chemical compound “sodium polyphosphate” is still referred to today as “Graham’s salt”. During his extensive studies of dialysis, Thomas Graham discovered that some substances diffuse very rapidly through membrane filters and form crystals when dried (crystals). Other chemical compounds, on the other hand, diffused very slowly and did not form crystals in the dry state (colloids). Accordingly, Graham described colloids as substances that could not pass through semipermeable membranes. The name colloid was derived from the Greek word “kolla=kolla”, which means glue-like compounds. Graham also defined the terms “sol” and “gel”. In 1837 Thomas Graham left the Royal College of Science and Technology in Glasgow and became Professor of Chemistry at University College London. In 1841 he was appointed the first President of the “Chemical Society” in London.