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 graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

. He was born and grew up in

Piedmont, Missouri Piedmont is a city in northwestern Wayne County, Missouri, Wayne County in Southeast Missouri, United States. Its population was 1,897 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Part of the Ozarks, Ozark Foothills Region, it is at the converg ...

. 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 national Mixed-sex education, coeducational Service fraternities and sororities, service Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It is the largest College fraterniti ...

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 (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

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 Propene, propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefin ...

" 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 rati ...

(HDPE). These

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or Semisynthesis, semisynthetic materials composed primarily of Polymer, polymers. Their defining characteristic, Plasticity (physics), plasticity, allows them to be Injection moulding ...

s were initially known by the name

Marlex Marlex is a trademarked name for a crystalline polypropylene and high-density polyethylene (HDPE). These plastics were invented by J. Paul Hogan and Robert Banks, two research chemists at the Phillips Petroleum Company in 1951. Interest in the ...

. The polymerization of ethylene was made possible by their discovery of the so-called

Phillips catalyst The Phillips catalyst, or the Phillips supported chromium catalyst, is the catalyst used to produce approximately half of the world's polyethylene. A heterogeneous catalyst, it consists of a chromium oxide supported on silica gel. Polyethylene, ...

Recognition

In 1987, Banks and Hogan won the

Perkin Medal The Perkin Medal is an award given annually by the Society of Chemical Industry (American Section) to a scientist residing in America for an "innovation in applied chemistry resulting in outstanding commercial development." It is considered the ...

, and in 2001 they were inducted into the

National Inventors Hall of Fame The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) is an American not-for-profit organization, founded in 1973, which recognizes individual engineers and inventors who hold a US patent of significant technology. Besides the Hall of Fame, it also operate ...

. Both were given a ''

Heroes of Chemistry The Heroes of Chemistry is an award given annually by the American Chemical Society. It highlights teams responsible for creation of innovative and impactful products based on chemistry and chemical engineering and is intended to show how human we ...

'' 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. Banks was inducted into the

Plastics Hall of Fame Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic materials composed primarily of polymers. Their defining characteristic, plasticity, allows them to be molded, extruded, or pressed into a diverse range of solid forms. This adaptabil ...

in 2014.

References

External links

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