problem and demonstrating the production of fluorine several times, he was awarded a prize of 10,000 francs. For the first successful isolation, he was awarded the 1906 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Following his grand achievement, his research focused on characterizing fluorine's chemistry. He discovered numerous fluorine compounds, such as (together with Paul Lebeau) sulfur hexafluoride in 1901. Further studies Moissan contributed to the development of the electric arc furnace, which opened several paths to developing and preparing new compounds, and attempted to use pressure to produce synthetic diamonds from the more common form of carbon. He also used the furnace to synthesize the borides and carbides of numerous elements. Calcium carbide was a noticeable accomplishment as this paved the way for the development of the chemistry of acetylene. In 1893, Moissan began studying fragments of a meteorite found in Meteor Crater near Diablo Canyon in Arizona. In these fragments he discovered minute quantities of a new mineral and, after extensive research, Moissan concluded that this mineral was made of silicon carbide. In 1905, this mineral was named moissanite, in his honor. In 1903 Moissan was elected member of the International Atomic Weights Committee where he served until his death. Footnotes References Further reading External links Scientific genealogy Books and letters by Henri Moissan in Europeana 1852 births 1907 deaths Nobel laureates in Chemistry French Nobel laureates Scientists from Paris Members of the French Academy of Sciences 19th-century French chemists French pharmacists French people of Jewish descent Inorganic chemists Foreign Members of the Royal Society Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences 20th-century French chemists Fluorine Deaths from appendicitis Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery