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Robert L. Banks (November 24, 1921 – January 3, 1989) was an American
chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...
. He was born and grew up in Piedmont, Missouri. He attended the University of Missouri - Rolla, and initiated into
Alpha Phi Omega Alpha Phi Omega (), commonly known as APO, but also A-Phi-O and A-Phi-Q, is a coeducational service fraternity. It is the largest collegiate fraternity in the United States, with chapters at over 350 campuses, an active membership of over 25, ...
in 1940. He joined the
Phillips Petroleum Phillips Petroleum Company was an American oil company incorporated in 1917 that expanded into petroleum refining, marketing and transportation, natural gas gathering and the chemicals sectors. It was Phillips Petroleum that first found oil in th ...
company in 1946 and worked there until he retired in 1985. He died in
Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
on January 3, 1989.


Technical contributions

He was a fellow research chemist of J. Paul Hogan. They began working together in 1946, and in 1951 invented "crystalline
polypropylene Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefins a ...
" and
high-density polyethylene High-density polyethylene (HDPE) or polyethylene high-density (PEHD) is a thermoplastic polymer produced from the monomer ethylene. It is sometimes called "alkathene" or "polythene" when used for HDPE pipes. With a high strength-to-density rat ...
(HDPE). These
plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adapta ...
s were initially known by the name Marlex. The polymerization of ethylene was made possible by their discovery of the so-called Phillips catalyst.


Recognition

In 1987, Banks and Hogan won the Perkin Medal, and in 2001 they were inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Both were given a '' Heroes of Chemistry'' award by the
American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...
in 1989. Dr. Banks was inducted into the Plastics Hall of Fame in 2014.


References


External links


Robert Banks biography at National Inventors Hall of Fame
1921 births 1989 deaths Polymer scientists and engineers Missouri University of Science and Technology alumni 20th-century American inventors Chemists from Missouri {{US-chemist-stub