Abstract
William J. (“Bill”) Sparks, disdainful of the tradition synthetic rubbers made from C4 to C6 dienes, selected other raw materials for making rubberlike polymers. In 1937 Sparks, and colleague R.M. Thomas, chemists with Standard Oil of New Jersey, invented the now-famous butyl rubber, made by copolymerizing isobutylene with small proportions of butadiene or isoprene. While a research supervisor (1939–1940) at USDA’s Northern Regional Research Center (Peoria, IL), Spark’s rubber expertise helped initiate research that eventually transformed vegetable oils into the elastomer called Norepol. Yielding to attractive offers, Sparks returned in 1940 to the Esso Research & Engineering Co., where he remained- (Director of Chemical Research, until his retirement in 1967. Spark’s creative genius, which was not limited to polymers, led to numerous patents on various materials, e.g., new fuels, gasoline additives, propellents, encapsulated oxidants, asphalt additives, and food-wrapping films. Born in 1904 and a graduate of Indiana University and the University of Illinois (Ph.D., 1936), Sparks received many honors. He advocated creativity and enhanced status for inventors. Active in professional societies (President, American Chemical Society, 1966), Sparks served both chemistry and chemists with distinction. He and Mrs. Meredith Pleasant Sparks (Ph.D., chemistry, and law degree) parented four children. William J. Sparks died October 23, 1976, in his home in Coral Gables, Florida.
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Seymour, R.B. et al. (1989). William Joseph Sparks Co-Inventor of Butyl Rubber. In: Seymour, R.B. (eds) Pioneers in Polymer Science. Chemists and Chemistry, vol 10. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2407-9_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2407-9_17
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