Jan Hendrik de Boer

Who was Jan Hendrik de Boer?

Jan Hendrik de Boer was a Dutch physicist and chemist.

De Boer was born in Ruinen, now De Wolden, and died in The Hague. He studied at the University of Groningen and was later employed in industry.

Together with Anton Eduard van Arkel, de Boer developed a chemical transport reaction for titanium, zirconium, and hafnium known as the crystal bar process. In a closed vessel the metal reacts with iodine at elevated temperature forming the iodide. At a tungsten filament of 1700 °C the reverse reaction occurs, and the iodine and the metal are set free. The metal forms a solid coating at the tungsten filament and the iodine can react with additional metal, resulting in a steady turnover.

M + 2I₂ → MI₄

MI₄ → M + 2I₂