death_date death_place birth_place image_size nationality field birth_date known_for image article_title name
22 august 1895 saint-lothain , france poligny , jura , france 160px french chemistry 25 april 1812 ivention of phosphorus-based matches charlessauria.jpg charles sauria
 charles sauria
charles sauria

marc charles sauria -lrb- 25 april 1812 -- 22 august 1895 -rrb- was a french chemist credited for inventing phosphorus-based matches in 1830 -- 1831 .
several events are believed to have led sauria to his discovery , including the hydrogen lighter introduced in 1827 by joseph louis gay-lussac and the demonstration by his chemistry professor nicolet where a powder mixture of potassium chlorate and sulfur was detonated by a blow .
during a long series of experiments , sauria went on to add white phosphorus that helped ignite the mixture by friction .
he finalized the invention by adding gum arabic to hold the powders together , and dipping pieces of wood into it .
sauria was a poor student at the time ; however , nicolet communicated his invention to german industrialist friedrich kammerer who had patented it and used it in mass production of matches .
the british chemist john walker had introduced a very similar match some five years earlier , where he used antimony sulfide instead of white phosphorus .
however , the phosphorus matches became more popular , mostly because of the reduced smell of sulfur , and quickly replaced those made by walker .
around the time of sauria 's death , some 3 trillion of white phosphorus matches per year were produced worldwide .
however , white phosphorus was soon proven to be toxic and banned by the international berne convention in 1906 .
