In 1914, Polanyi wrote his first paper proposed on adsorption where he proposed a model for the adsorption of gas onto a solid surface. Afterwards, he published a fully developed paper in 1916, which included experimental verification by his students and other authors.
During his research in the University of Budapest, his mentor, Professor Georg Bredig, sent his research findings to Albert Einstein. Einstein wrote back to Bredig stating:
Polanyi later described this event by saying:
Polanyi and Einstein continued to write to each other on and off for the next 20 years.