[dxbarker]

Hi

I'm trying to create a strong elastomer with household items. I've boiled gelatin and benzoin in an acetone solvent. It created a strong elastomer, but I'm looking for something even stronger. What could I add?

[dxbarker]

When I place super glue in an acetone solvent it turns into some type of pseudo-elastomer. How can I increase the tensile strength of super glue when it's in an acetone solvent?

[Arkcon]

Hi there, dxbarker:, I've merged your two threads, so everyone can see all your work at once.

Unfortunately, random mixing of household items isn't really a good way for anyone to learn anything. If what you've done so far has worked partially, I'd call that a positive development, and just work with it.

[dxbarker]

What exactly causes an increase/decrease of tensile strength?

[wildfyr]

The superglue "elastomer" is mostly due to the fact that its swelled with solvent. That material usually has very poor elastic properties on purpose.

The causes of elastomeric behavior are complex, but at the most basic level it has to do with the interplay between areas of a polymer that are crystalline and areas that are amorphous, as well as the degree of crosslinking. Amorphous areas can stretch, but the crystalline areas want to retain the beginning shape, as do crosslink points. The crosslinking is easily controlled, however crystallinity depends on the types of functional groups contained in the polymer.

Tensile strength is basically how far you can stretch a polymer before it fails. Once again, a simple answer is difficult to provide. The strength and number of both covalent bonds and noncovalent interactions (like H-bonding) in the polymer will determine how far it can be stretched before failure.

[dxbarker]

What's the difference between creating crosslinking polymers and creating a copolymer?

[wildfyr]

A copolymer simply contains more than one type of repeat unit. Polystyrene is a homopolymer. A protein is a copolymer.

A crosslinked polymer can be obtained many ways. One can include a monomer with two polymerizable functional groups so that each group will be part of a different chain as a polymerization occurs, or you could polymerize something that is capable of reacting at a later time with another group in the polymer to give a bridge (such as benzophenone). Finally, an later introduce additive (such as a sulfur source in rubber) can introduce a crosslinking points in the polymer by reacting with two or more chains around 1 molecular center.