Juan José Elhuyar

The Discovery of Tungsten (1783) – The Work of the d'Elhuyar Brothers

In 1783, Spanish chemists and mineralogists Juan José and Fausto d'Elhuyar successfully isolated metallic tungstenby reducing tungsten oxide with carbon (charcoal) while studying the mineral wolframite.

This achievement marked the discovery of the element tungsten, known for its exceptionally high melting point and strength, making it one of the most important industrial metals in later centuries.

Naming the Element – Tungsten vs. Wolfram

The element was named wolfram after the mineral from which it was extracted. This name remains widely used in Germany and other European countries, and it is reflected in its chemical symbol: W.

However, British and American chemists adopted the name tungsten, derived from the Swedish words "tung sten," meaning "heavy stone", a reference to the mineral’s high density.

Global Terminology – A Persistent Division

• "Wolfram" is the preferred name in Germany, Spain, and other European countries.
• "Tungsten" is used primarily in English-speaking countries (Britain, the United States, Canada, and Australia).
• The chemical symbol W, introduced by Jöns Jacob Berzelius, remains the universal notation worldwide, despite the linguistic divide over its common name.

Legacy of the d'Elhuyar Brothers

The discovery and isolation of tungsten by the d'Elhuyar brothers was a major breakthrough in chemistry and metallurgy, paving the way for its later applications in industry, military technology, and electronics.

French chemist Pierre-François Chabaneau was born in 1754 in Nontron, a village in the Dordogne department of France.

His uncle, a member of the order of Saint Anthony, had encouraged him to study theology.

While Chabaneau excelled in his studies, his distaste for metaphysical speculation had led him to antagonize his teachers, which in turn had caused him to be expelled from school.

Sympathetic towards Chabaneau's state of poverty, the director of a Jesuit college in Passy had offered him a position as a mathematics professor, despite Chabaneau having only a basic understanding of arithmetic.

In studying the material for the next day's lessons, Chabaneau taught himself algebra and geometry.

His academic interest soon spread to physics, natural history, and chemistry.

At the age of twenty, Chabaneau had been convinced by the brothers Fausto and Juan José Elhuyar to join the newly established Real Seminario Patriotico at Vergara to teach French and physics.

The brothers Elhuyar, who would soon make a name for themselves by isolating metallic tungsten, are the sons of the Count of Peñaflorida, who had sent them to France to find professors for the Vergara Seminary.

After the Elhuyar brothers isolated metallic tungsten in 1783, Chabaneau had collaborated with them in researching platinum.

This did not last long, though, as the brothers had been appointed Directors General of Mining, and soon left Spain for South America.

King Charles III had created a public chair of mineralogy, physics and chemistry for Chabaneau in Madrid and provided him with a laboratory for his research.

The Count d'Aranda had secured the government's entire supply of platinum for Chabaneau's laboratory.

Chabaneau has been able to easily remove most of platinum's natural impurities, including gold, mercury, lead, copper, and iron, leading him to believe that he is working with pure platinum.

However, the metal displays inconsistent characteristics.

At times it is malleable; at times it is highly brittle.

Sometimes it is entirely incombustible, yet sometimes it burns readily.

These inconsistencies are a result of various impurities: rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium, and ruthenium.

These elements will later come to be known as the platinum group metals, but at the time of Chabaneau's research, they have not yet been discovered.

So frustrated was Chabaneau by his research that, in 1786, he had lost his temper and smashed all of his equipment, exclaiming, "Away with it all! I'll smash the whole business; you shall never again get me to touch the damned metal!"

Nevertheless, three months later, Chabaneau had presents the Count d'Aranda with a ten centimeter cube of pure malleable platinum, obtainable only upon purification to essentially pure metal.

His process, involving powder metallurgy and intense heating, will be kept secret until 1914.

Chabaneau had realized that the sheer difficulty of working with platinum would lend value to objects made from it.

A chalice made from malleable platinum is presented to Pope Pius VI in 1789.

He and Don Joaquín Cabezas carry on a lucrative business producing platinum ingots and utensils.

This marks the beginning of what is now known as the "platinum age in Spain," during which nearly 18,000 troy ounces of malleable platinum will be produced in a span of twenty-two years.

The platinum age will end in 1808 when Chabaneau's laboratory is destroyed during Napoleon's second invasion.