Electrochemical contributions: Dionýz Ilkovič (1907–1980)

Dionýz Ilkovič (Figure 1) was a Czechoslovak physicist and physical chemist. He made fundamental contributions to the theoretical background of polarography and electroanalytical chemistry in general.

Polarography is the first electroanalytical technique that performs a voltammetric study with a mercury-dropping electrode (Figure 2A). This technique was invented in 1922 by Czech physical chemist Jaroslav Heyrovský, who received the Nobel prize in 1959 for the polarography invention and its application to numerous electroanalytical studies. The polarography made the background for different electroanalytical methods, particularly cyclic voltammetry, and other modern voltammetric techniques.

The Ilkovic equation was highly important for the quantitative analysis of the polarographic measurements.

The author declares no conflict of interest.