Making Silicone from Scratch

[@WizardZph]

This is such a PERFECT video for people to actually replicate as their first home chem project

[@integral_chemistry]

Right? I've been wanting to do more accessible stuff lately as I realized I've been straying into projects no normal person would ever be able to put together at home, and the initial point of the channel was to try and make chemistry more accessible 😅

[@BillAnt]

​@@integral_chemistry - Next up: Making silicone-meth-oxide lol

[@Nighthawkinlight]

This is excellent. I had no idea silicone could have such a simple synthesis. I might have uses for this reaction. If I use it I'll be sure to cite your video. Thanks!

[@LabCoatz_Science]

I actually made a video a few years about "turning glass into slime", lol. Wish I had known about this process, because I basically just precipitated silica gel from my sodium silicate and called it good. This would've been much better!

[@domsquaaa4323]

.

[@integral_chemistry]

I think I saw that one! I considered also starting from glass/sand but decided to keep the video short. But yeah I feel this reaction isn't crazy well known considering how simple and accessible it is. Definitely be cool for a high school lab

[@DangerousLab]

80% Random ball throwing content 20% Actual chemistry experiment 🤣

[@memelord_699]

I stopped listening to any of the chemistry as soon as he started bouncing the balls LOL

[@integral_chemistry]

LMAO Yeaah it was a fun project but considering how simple the reaction is I realized 90% of my footage ended up being just me throwing the thing

[@Techpriest1010]

And a hundred percent reason to remember the name!

[@cezarcatalin1406]

@@integral_chemistry I assume the sodium ions remain stuck inside the silica? How about use an alkyl ammonium salt that can be liberated as a gas when ethanol is added?

[@BillAnt]

​@@integral_chemistry - Gotta have the right silicone "fillers" between the "good" stuff. wink-wink :D

[@queazocotal]

On the 'slow to cure' caulks, It can be fun to play with these. The acetoxy cure silicone cures by releasing acetic acid and absorbing water from the environment. If you mix rapidly with various damp alkali, you get interesting behaviour, from simply setting rapidly, to making a foam if you use a bicarbonate salt.

[@kerrimtthefrog1001]

Well now you’ve gone and given me so many ideas! The old KOR Chanel had a “make your own rubber” and I’ve rescued some critical projects at work with it. I’m sure this could add insulative (I’m not sure about the spelling there) properties for some other tasks like freeze drying chamber seals!

[@daliasprints9798]

The foam idea is very interesting. In FDM 3D printing we use RTV silicone to produce custom insulating socks. Making the silicone foam as it cures might further enhance insulation properties.

[@SianaGearz]

@@daliasprints9798 I don't think the heat leakage through silicone sock is that high. Most of the heat loss in an already insulated hotend even with shitty insulation occurs due to expelling the melt to actually print things. Besides floppy fragile sock is inconvenient. I do like this synthesis method in this video. If it produces silicone which is high temperature stable and more on the rigid side, i might use it to produce a sock.

[@daliasprints9798]

@@SianaGearz That's actually not the case. I use MPC heater control where the model is accounting for where the power goes, and only up to 25W goes into flow, while 55-80W (depending on CPAP power level) goes into the air (120W cartridge).

[@DownToNerd]

Hey man, just wanted to say you kind of cracked open the world of chemistry for me and i love you for that, thank you.

[@experimental_chemistry]

In our childhood we had bouncy balls called Flummi, which never made any sense to me: too hard to play with it indoors (they are able to smash every glass into pieces easily) and too bouncy to play with it outdoors (they always bounced away to places where we never found them again...).

[@integral_chemistry]

Those sound exactly like this one honestly. I believe we had something similar growing up, where the most rigid balls bounced way too far and always got lost lol

[@nicfab1]

The trick is not having glass randomly standing around outside of a cabinet, or inside the room you play in at all

[@experimental_chemistry]

It's also possible to destroy a showcase glazing with a flummy - believe me, I know what I am talking about: I have got two kids at home... 😉

[@verdatum]

"Super bounce balls" were usually a different rubber; I believe polybutadiene.

[@shrivanth6774]

That's motivating to do more home chemistry

[@integral_chemistry]

Glad to hear it! I've been wanting to do more videos on things people could more reasonably (and safely) do at home

[@voinea12]

You are the first to make silicone on video, also didn't know it was this easy

[@fmdj]

Yes, very interesting! I was so excited when I discovered waterglass. I looked for tons of ways to use it, but I didn't know about this one, it's great!

[@integral_chemistry]

I'm still trying to think of more applications considering what a neat and easily accessible chemical it is! So far I've got this and growing a chemical garden

[@fmdj]

@@integral_chemistry that's pretty cool already! This is not exactly chemistry and maybe more something like materials engineering I guess, but I have been playing with using waterglass as a structural adhesive for binding and rigidifying carbon fiber for high temperature applications and I'm pretty sure there is potential there. Probably a question of finding the right waterglass formulation and additives... what I've tried seemed promising but kinda reverted to NaOH after a while...

[@zenongranatnik8370]

I work in a waterglasses factory and you wouldn't believe how many industries use them. For an amateur chemist though it can be used for the chemical garden, as a raw material for making pure silica, to make homemade silica gel, for glueing and fireproofing reaction apparatuses, for metal casting and many other applications.

[@waltonchan3931]

Love the polymer chemistry, great video!

[@integral_chemistry]

Glad you liked it!

[@chemnobeliumlab1520]

wow that was a legend direct reaction. well done :)

[@Dexaan]

As a kid, I loved throwing bouncy balls to confuse my cat at playtime.

[@belgiumball2308]

You sound like nilered combined with thatchemist And I love it

[@integral_chemistry]

Those guys are both pretty rad! I'll definitely take it lol

[@experimental_chemistry]

Had to try this out - but the mixture was way too brittle (just like coarse wet sand) to form a ball from it... 🙁 At first I had the impression that the silicate was simply precipitated rather than polymerized. But then the texture and name seemed very familiar to me: Dimethylsiloxane is a defoamer that is used against flatulence. The crumbly substance felt the same between my fingers as the tablets in my mouth when chewed. Of course, I would strongly advise against making your own medication. Here unreacted silicate can lead to life-threatening complications in the digestive tract. But I couldn't figure out how to make a bouncing ball out of it instead when I copied it.🤷‍♂️

[@integral_chemistry]

I did a good deal more research over the last week and I'm fairly confident the mechanism from the literature I posted in the video is wrong. My best guess at this point is that it is cross-linking, but the cross-links are Si-O-Si with sodium ethoxide acting as a leaving group. However, that's just what makes the most sense to me. I've seen tons of other totally plausible ideas thrown around here in the comments. I do think the wet sand analogy is pretty accurate too, and I think I downplayed just how much persistence you really need to force that crap into a ball. It does work eventually though! Just really have to be patient

[@Dank_Lulu]

Today I learned why it's called silicone. I did not know it was because its core component was silicon, I just thought it was a similar situation to how the graphite in pencils is called lead but I never bothered to do any research. I'm curious to know how the black silicone caulk that sometimes says it's "bitumen" silicone works. This is a lot more technical so I believe a chemist would be best suited to do proper research on this so I'm gonna leave this here just in case you feel like making a video about it. Thank you for the fun info!

[@Psychx_]

How would the material properties change if ethanol is replaced with 1-propanol? More elasticity and bouncyness? A less dense material?

[@integral_chemistry]

I tried using a few different types of alcohol with mixed results. I did a bit more research since posting this and I believe the actual mechanism is the formation of sodium ethoxide which then acts as a leaving group forming Si-O-Si bonds as the crosslink.

[@geordonworley5618]

I would love to see more polymers. I am interested in making bio polyethylene and polypropylene.

[@geordonworley5618]

Also PET and PETG.

[@FUZxxl]

Wait... it's that simple? Now I wonder if any medieval alchemists managed to make silicone that way. The ingredients have been readily available for centuries.

[@integral_chemistry]

I hadn't thought of that but maybe. I'm curious now how long ago they discovered that you could dissolve silicon dioxide in lye.. that would definitely be the tougher part I'd think

[@nolanwhite1971]

I doubt it. We have the distinct advantage of good pure reagents these days. That's relatively recent. They certainly didn't have pure ingredients in the middle ages.

[@mduckernz]

@@nolanwhite1971Lye, silica, and ethanol have been available in high purity for quite some time tho

[@FUZxxl]

@@integral_chemistry Earliest reports of dissolved silica goes back to the 1500s, though waterglass was only properly studied in the 1800s.

[@adamrak7560]

@@nolanwhite1971 alchemists' had quite pure H2SO4 for a long time, but I am not sure about NaOH. Most old NaOH/KOH making processes are heavily contaminated with NaCO3/KCO3, good for soap making, but would produce contaminated water glass, which can be cleaned but I don't think they knew or cared much. They had really pure 96% alcohol though, but they did not have any 100% ethanol.

[@adamrak7560]

Are you sure you are producing oxygen as a side product? To me it looks a bit sus that you are making Si-C bonds that easily. It looks more like Si-O-C, which would not produce oxygen gas, and is thermodynamically more favorable too.

[@STRA1GHTAHEAD]

Totally second this. I can see ethanol linking like C2H5-O-Si, but I do not see the CH3 end deprotonating like that.

[@integral_chemistry]

Yeah I think the mechanism from my source is wrong. Gave it a closer look, considered the comments and did some more reading and my best explanation of the reaction is that the cross-link is Si-O-Si, with the ethoxide acting as a leaving group on the Si atom. Best I have for now, but a lot of comments have proposed many other ideas that also may be correct.. Honestly the lack of bubbling should have been a giveaway that no oxygen was produced, guess I just got too excited someone else did the mechanism for me lol.

[@aaandis]

2:24 could you please explain how the silicon-carbon bonds are formed by reaction with ethanol? Looks fishy to me.

[@arbitraryobjective4904]

Awesome!! Thanks for the upload!

[@arbitraryobjective4904]

I have tried this a few times now and I can’t get it to turn solid. I’m using waterglass I made using potassium hydroxide and silica gel and everclear 🤷‍♂️

[@sunmoon1234]

Silicone glue used as glass aquarium adhesive is acetate based, and gives out vinegar smell when curing by reacting to h2o from moisture in air. It is pet safe.

[@nachodealfonso5934]

How can Si-O bonds turn into Si-C bonds from Na-silicate and EtOH? I think there is something wrong with the mechanism, and no cross linking could be explained like that either. Could you provide any reference? Thank you for all the chemistry on this channel!!!

[@integral_chemistry]

No problem at all! And yeah I spent about an hour last night toying with this reaction to try and make it make sense to me, as I always assumed cross-linking could only be achieved by acid hydrolysis. In the end I just decided to copy the mechanism from my source instead of trying to make my own.. Anyway yeah I'll try and put the link in the video description, maybe someone else can sus it out.

[@imikla]

How does this relate to silicone lubricants.

[@zenongranatnik8370]

Sodium metasilicate (crystalline Na2SiO3) isn't usually sold to regular customers as it is because it's corrosive. If you bought your waterglass at a hardware store, it probably is an amorphous silicate variant much more rich in silica which is safer to handle. It is also good for making bouncy balls, though. When I was in middle school I used to make them all the time from silica-rich waterglass and denaturated alcohol. Now I wonder what happens if I use metasilicate.

[@integral_chemistry]

Huh very good to know! Very much appreciate the input from people who know more than me. Interestingly enough though I did make crystalline metasilicate myself which I actually tried first. The result was a think slime that didn't really hold its shape. Definitely cool in its own way, but I felt not as interesting for the video lol

[@zenongranatnik8370]

@@integral_chemistry Seems right. When dissolved in water, metasilicate gives mainly isolated (SiO3)2- anions but the more silica in waterglass, the more polymeric the anions become. Long silicate chains probably work better in creating bouncy balls.

[@guytech7310]

Video with the acetate method. DIY Silicon Caulk!

[@evilkidm93b]

This is fantastic! Can you comment on the health hazards of this experiment and its products?

[@edeniaAJ]

Cooool! I'm definately going to try this some time! I have an idea: If you screw around with the ratios a bit, can you in effect modify how much the silicone gets crosslinked? :D

[@integral_chemistry]

In theory yeah definitely! I used a big excess of ethanol here, no idea what would happen if I cut the amount back significantly. My gut says it would be really gooey

[@edeniaAJ]

@@integral_chemistry aha! So then, if you were to reduce the ethanol slightly, could you in theory make a silica gel (which is what this technically is), that mimics industrial silicone?

[@mikeguitar9769]

I think it is adding sidechains, not crosslinking. CH3-CH2-OH + Na2SiO3 → CH3-CH2-O-NaSiO2 + NaOH

[@integral_chemistry]

I did a good deal more research over the last week and I'm fairly confident the mechanism from the literature I posted in the video is wrong. My best guess at this point is that it is cross-linking, but the cross-links are Si-O-Si with sodium ethoxide acting as a leaving group. However, that's just what makes the most sense to me. I've seen tons of other totally plausible ideas thrown around here in the comments.

[@WeebRemover4500]

i remember when i mixed NaOH sol with SiO2 kitty litter, i would usually find a thick disc of some kind of SiO2 polymer at the bottom, it was quite heat resistant. some crude aerogel

[@beginnereasy]

Chemistry is amazing.

[@Tower0fHeaven]

Great video

[@TheVideoGuardian]

Definitely a useful material. I wonder how much the process could be adapted, such as producing a slower curing pourable mix, or maybe making a gel or a foam?

[@eclectichoosier5474]

I wonder how well alcohol would permeate without agitation. Could put the sodium silicate in a mold and add the alcohol on the surface. Or more likely, use this to make thin sheets.

[@alex-mzlzl]

Daaaamn i'll give this a shot when back home

[@integral_chemistry]

Lmk how it goes!

[@LeonelLimon-nj7tu]

Can add pressure reactive Photovoltaic material, and it will light up every bounce

[@yourdemond]

I would like to know more about platinum cure silicone . as well as how to stop cure inhiation like how/what's in inhibitx . thank you for a great video

[@IlusysSystems]

Neat, I didn't really understand silicone polymerization mechanism (not that I tried, but still). I see, that during actual polymerization the silicone loses water, but I am wondering, what prevents single silane molecule to lose water and become like ketone (dimethyl silanone). And if it does only tiny bit, why is this not preferred.

[@integral_chemistry]

I'll be honest I'm still struggling to understand this mechanism myself. I tried for a while last night to put my own version together but I couldn't balance it, nor explain electron movement. In the end I just gave up and copied the mechanism from the literature. I'll probably just post a link in the video description and see if anyone else can figure that one out

[@niconeuman]

Very interesting! What would happen if you use a longer alcohol for linking? Something like polyethylene glycol?

[@GigaDavy91]

This explains why silicone caulk does smell a bit like vinegar while curing

[@goryao]

Where did you hear that you can put alkanes into silicates like that? I am pretty sure what's going on is alkoxide formation with the ethanol, which then condense with silanols.

[@integral_chemistry]

I think you're right.. honestly I just took the word of a paper I found and when I couldn't make the mechanism work myself I just figured the author knew better than I did. Should have added some disclaimer about my uncertainty.. I'll look into it a bit more but your idea sounds much more feasible as a mechanism. Weirdly there's not a ton of info on this process despite it being so simple and accessible

[@goryao]

@@integral_chemistry Ah yeah, I was wondering if there was something I missed, would be neat to turn Q groups into T or D groups like that...

[@Preyhawk81]

wow i thought you need some siliciumflouride,sliliciumchlorid or some other complicated silicium compound.what if you use other alcohols? or longer chained one?

[@daliasprints9798]

What reaction is used in RTV silicones?

[@jeremiquirus1958]

Hey what is the song that starts playing at the end?

[@Noahtheorigianl]

Man so much info im overloaded lol

[@Flare1107]

Is the polymerization linking process not temperature dependent? If small, or dilute volumes of chilled catalyst were added slowly, to chilled base, could this extend the chain length Giving a lower durometer?

[@jacobe2995]

how can I use this in a mold? seems like it's not possible if you have to squees the water out and it hardens when you do.

[@integral_chemistry]

I'm not sure, haven't tried. It is still reasonably workable just before it starts to coagulate into a ball. Could maybe work it into a mold around that point

[@mikegLXIVMM]

2:38 Why not remove the sodium compounds?

[@CaseyNixa]

Cool! I’ve always wanted to make my own silly putty. I wonder if this would be the first step to that process.

[@test-uy4vc]

Im completely new to chemistry and would like to know where to start to know how to produce these things. Any videos, playlists or books would be very helpful! 🤔

[@chemnobeliumlab1520]

hey buddy as have mentioned that you are a newbie to the chemistry land! I have some suggestion books along with videos. The first step is you have to understand what is chemistry and what is not, get used to its language and how to perform stoichiometric calculations. For this I can suggest you to either study the Mortimer or Silberberg general chemistry books. You can read the book in your native language or English edition. This is optional due to which language do you prefer. The second step is really wide and covers many branches like Organic chemistry, Inorganic chemistry, Analytical chemistry, Physical chemistry etc. you can study on these branches but remember that this is not meaning that you can cover every topic. Choose which one you want and which one do you like. The third step also exists but it is based on academical research in or out of the university as PhD or post doc. For example most of the KZbin dudes do Organic chemistry. Like Apoptosis. For the videos I know a few channels covering chemistry : Nile Red [Mostly Organic chemistry] NurdRage [Amateur available methods and experiments chemistry, Inorganic and some time Analytical chemistry] Thy Lab, Lab coats [Both are mostly organic but second covers some cool physics stuff] The periodic videos [Covers almost whole periodic table elements explanation + some other cool explanation] Apoptosis !!!! etc. This list goes on and I was tried hard to remember the channels that I have visited recently. Also you can check out mit open course.

[@bedlaskybedla6361]

Try Sciencemadness forum, this is great place where to learn chemistry (not just organics, practically every field of chemistry is covered there). Community is very friendly and helpful.

[@test-uy4vc]

@@chemnobeliumlab1520 Thanks! 👍

[@geoffbeyrent6950]

Does this mean that this compound can be distilled with heating to collect copious amounts of formaldehyde?

[@nosurprise885]

It might polymerize right away because of the temperature

[@netram2000]

Adding water glass to my diet worked wonders for me. I drink one water glass every hour. Stay sodium silicated, guys!

[@integral_chemistry]

LMAO

[@grilsegrils9330]

Hi, why is some silicon sweating some sticky substance when aging? Typical found on things like salt and pepper grinders and many other items with this type of silicon used

[@Ang3lUki]

i wonder if you could make phenolic silicone, and what its properties would be

[@integral_chemistry]

I might have to give that a try! (Or at least read into it first). Tbh I know a lot more about carbon-based polymers than these silicone ones, but this project has definitely gotten me interested

[@mattscanlan5455]

I would really like to see you make addition (platinum) cure silicone. This is the food/medical type.

[@verdatum]

Now please explain platinum-cure versus condensation-cure (tin-cure) silicone polymerization. Because both mystify me to no end.

[@integral_chemistry]

I might need to do some homework on that myself 😅 polymers are an enigma to me much of the time

[@till2911]

what type of waterglass do you use? Orthosilicate?

[@integral_chemistry]

Yep! Orthosilicate. I believe that's the most widely avaliable variant

[@busimagen]

What about making silicone like that of kitchen spatulas or similar silicone items? How is that different from this?

[@randyschoenbeck3630]

That was interesting can we get one with the acetate variant?

[@fxk8y]

tried it out, sadly didn't work :( all I got was a white milky solution which draws some strings when pulling the glas rod out after mixing what did I do wrong??

[@integral_chemistry]

hmm.. Did you buy or make the sodium silicate? When I first tried this, I used sodium silicate that I made myself and the same thing happened to me. I think if the sodium silicate is too dilute or alkaline you'll get the stringy mess

[@CarterSchonwald]

How’s these approaches compare to tin and platinum cure silicone?

[@flyingshards595]

What would happen if you used sugar alcohols instead of ethanol?

[@integral_chemistry]

I don't think it would work tbh. I tried a few other alcohols and each time I just got a sort of noncohesive slime.. which I guess was cool in it's own way tbh

[@till2911]

is the concentration of the ethanol important or can I just use vodka?

[@carlospinheirotorres9499]

Great one, extremely usefull stuff - thanksfor taking the time ♥️ btw, by starting with sodium metasilicate pentahydrate (Na2SiO3·5H2O), would that make the process simpler by starting with a solid substance (I have it like little pearls) and only the water content of ethanol (I have the most common, readily available type, which has less than 4% water content)?

[@JohnathanSammer]

HE KNOWS MORE THAN WHAT HES TELLING U.

[@TheOpticalFreak]

Cool! 😁😃 So how does high heart resident silicone work!?

[@JohnAltenburg]

This reminded me of the movie FLubber.

[@integral_chemistry]

Dude I totally forgot about that movie 😅

[@johnslugger]

*Better to use Acidic Acid.*

[@bigmouthstrikesagain4056]

I suppose you could put it in a mold and press out all the excess water and alcohol and have something that's really rigid but also easy to make

[@bigmouthstrikesagain4056]

All you need is diy water glass from sand and possibly potash (potassium hydroxide?) and diy ethanol which can be made using the same method as prison white lightning

[@paarsenathan6087]

I don't know if it's too dangerous or anything. But can you make mustard gas one day. And I mean actual mustard gas cus most people make chlorine gas instead. Like not a whole lot but if you can't becaue it's too dangerous I understand.

[@camj4631]

Please explain to me how ethanol can crosslink your polymer? it looks like you are making and partially hydrolysing tetraethoxysiloxane?

[@camj4631]

Also you do not have any Si-C bonds as far as I can see, does this qualify as a polysiloxane?

[@integral_chemistry]

That's actually a good question.. let me go back to the little paper I found on this and see if I can come back with a good answer. Technically this was from what looked like a undergrad-level lab activity, and I wasn't actually able to find any formal literature on this reaction. I'll look into it a bit more and see what I can find

[@camj4631]

@@integral_chemistry you can use cyclopentadimethyldisiloxane (dimethicone) and some catalyst to do it pretty easily :) nit/lice removal solution is mainly that

[@integral_chemistry]

I did a good deal more research over the last week and I'm fairly confident the mechanism from the literature I posted in the video is wrong. My best guess at this point is that it is cross-linking, but the cross-links are Si-O-Si with sodium ethoxide acting as a leaving group. However, that's just what makes the most sense to me. I've seen tons of other totally plausible ideas thrown around here in the comments.

[@Salt_and_Peroxide]

cool

[@brooksbryant2478]

What happens if you replace the ethanol with a different alcohol, like methanol or isopropanol?

[@imogen1]

Clickbait. You got your Silicon from a pre-expanded universe. Didn't even fuse the Si from Hydrogen.

[@integral_chemistry]

damn.. the ruse is up. Better start writing my apology video

[@memberwhen22]

I read it as Making SIlicon and I was like huh? we are going to journey to a star today

[@VoidHalo]

I was really interested to find out that silicone (without additives) is actually less toxic than sugar. Silicone has an LD50 of about 50 GRAMS per kilogram. Where sugar has an LD50 of 35 grams per kilogram. But that says nothing for any other compounds they put in it, plasticizers, hardeners, pigments, and who knows what else. I just thought it was amusing that plastics have such a bad reputation (and rightfully so) but this one plastic happens to be practically non-toxic. Otoh, I wouldn't want to try to pass that much silicone through my GI tract. I don't even know how they would measure that amount.

[@mhb41]

Always save these videos in case we have a global reset and I can single handedly reshape civilisation

[@DangerousLab]

Is this another brand of pet pee pads or is it something else? Thinking of getting some for my lab too.

[@integral_chemistry]

The black ones? Those are actually pads for dental/tattoo work I found on Amazon. They are kinda flimsy compared to the puppy pads but WAY cheaper

[@DangerousLab]

@@integral_chemistry Ah I see, I will probably get some during non-filming work as things get messy sometimes.

[@queazocotal]

This video, shortly after watching NurdRage's research into various secondary and tertiary alcohols made me wonder what happens if you replace the ethanol with more exotic alcohols. /me looks at his bottle of tea-tree oil.

[@stamasd8500]

*looks at the bottle of linalool, which was obtained as a consequence of the exact same series of videos as above* :)

[@integral_chemistry]

I'll have to give it a shot! I tried methanol instead but it kinda just turned into a weak slime. Didn't think to try longer-chain alcohols

[@stamasd8500]

@@integral_chemistry I have a large bottle of geraniol too, might want to give that a try too. Which is again a large chain, unsaturated primary alcohol - as opposed to unsaturated tertiary like linalool.

[@injectormajor]

I have tried propylene glycol and it resulted in more rigid but still flexible material, very bouncy. The reaction time seems the same as with ethanol. Mixture of glycerol and propylene glycol is still curing and I think I made too much of a punk-approach to it with just mix this sh*t at random proportion. I think my goal is to experiment with the number of cross-links and their own length compared to physical prop of cured material. Not that as I’ve asked myself to study that but still)

[@queazocotal]

@@injectormajor Neat! I wonder if there is a mechanism to make it dry enough to not need the drying step...

[@user255]

I tried this with potassium silicate, but it didn't work.

[@rkirke1]

So what you're saying is Tesla could have used silicone insulation instead of Gutta-percha!? The starting materials are so simple - sand, lye and alcohol, I'm surprised it wasn't discovered earlier!

[@MissionSilo]

I need this

[@Panda_Gibs]

That tidbit about acetate in caulking silicone has solved the mystery of why I thought the stuff smelled like pickles.

[@integral_chemistry]

Honestly when I did the research for this project last week that was the first time I made the connection myself.

[@jauld360]

Cat litter to silicone would make a catchy title.

[@andylin1587]

I may be stupid but how does sodium hydroxide dissolve silicon dioxide which is just glass?

[@zenongranatnik8370]

Strong alkalis just dissolve silicon dioxide creating silicates. Molten NaOH easily dissolves glass and concentrated NaOH solutions can dissolve regular sand under high pressure. If silica is in the form of silica gel it is even easier, you can easily dissolve silica gel cat litter in concentrated sodium hydroxide solution. It's an acid-base reaction, silicon dioxide is a very weak acidic oxide.

[@eclectichoosier5474]

NurdRage covered the reaction in his sodium series. It's a common problem when working with NaOH, especially at higher temperatures. -- it likes to dissolve your glassware unless you completely eliminate water from your reaction. I've lost a few flasks to it. NurdRage starts his reactions by destroying ALL of the water with sodium metal.

[@andylin1587]

@@eclectichoosier5474 Thanks, this was not taught in my chem class :)

[@oasntet]

I just went down a bit of a rabbit hole on the subject of silicone's environmental impact. It's a mixed bag, but not an unmanageable one the way plastic is. It generally breaks down even slower than plastics (I'm sure there are exceptions due to how varied both can be), but that can be a positive for reusable items. It's terrible for disposable items, but ffs we gotta stop with that anyway. But at EOL, it can generally be incinerated safely, unlike plastic, since it mostly produces sand, carbon oxides and water, unlike all of the plasticizers and softeners and adjuncts added to make most plastics useful. Sure, produces carbon dioxide and monoxide, but compared to plastics... Not that it create much energy when incinerated, but the toxic outgassing is less. In a future without plastics, maybe we'd use more silicone and have a collection system for it so it goes into incinerators instead of landfills? Or maybe we'd find a recycling system that uses it as a relatively clean source of silica for glassmaking or more silicone?

[@SianaGearz]

Plasticisers are a misconception, most plastics you use day to day do not rely on them or don't use any, and in turn with a couple exceptions they can be incinerated completely. PP PE PS PET are the bulk of the plastics used and they can be incinerated completely. There are other trouble additives though, like halogen based fire retardants necessarily used in most PS items and also PVC the polymer per se that's a troublesome one.

[@stevengill1736]

Ooooh, that's why silicone seal cures releasing acetic acid... The other type smells basic, so must have an amino leaving group....

[@otilium7503]

❤thank you. We make those tiny balls from certain trees and flower beans or even some tree sap❤

[@Rostov_med90]

Thanks

[@lautaromorales2903]

how tf carbon gets reduces and oxidizes oxygen. And no gas was seen being generated

[@aqua-op]

Cool, now try making silicon from scratch

[@integral_chemistry]

Oh christ 😅 honestly a thermite-type reaction could do it, the tough part would be collecting it afterward

[@zenongranatnik8370]

​@@integral_chemistry The longer the cooling time the larger the silicon pieces. You can also recrystallize silicon from molten metals like molten zinc, that way you can extract it from the reaction mixture.

[@charlesurrea1451]

This is when you wish you had a lab Rolling Mill

[@integral_chemistry]

literally

[@chemicode]

Hey Apoptosis wanna join a discord server I made for science youtubers only?

[@integral_chemistry]

Sure! What is it called?

[@chemicode]

@@integral_chemistry go to my community and the link will be there

[@chemicode]

@@integral_chemistry it's called The Chemtubers

[@chemicode]

@@integral_chemistry uh everytime I tell you youtube deletes my comment lol

[@mattheide2775]

This looks really cool and all, however, I didn't understand a single concept, yet the bouncy ball kept my attention the entire time. 😅

[@integral_chemistry]

LMAO it was surprisingly fun to play around with. Took me until this video to realized I haven't played with one of these in years

[@mattheide2775]

@@integral_chemistry 1 inch bouncy balls were in gum ball type of vending machine for 25 cents as a kid. Kinda learned geometry and not to bounce it around the house. The one thing I remember is when the ball bounced it would reverse the spin. Like it could grip the surface and put the energy into reverse spin. They were fun to play with my friends and the game was don't look stupid trying to chase the ball. We had a lot of fun chasing around the ball and laughing at each other. Thank you 🙏

[@0GregorSchultz0]

honestly....didn't know that a "modified Silane" is still more or less silicone... I'm a boatbuilder and a lot of "marine-grade (/-fit) polymers are silanes....like "bostik" or "Sika-Flex" kinda shook thats its still basically silicone....sure there are differences but its always like "no don't use silicone, use this-and-that" chemically at least similar....very interesting care to make a video on the "marine sealants/ caulks"? I for one would find that highly entertaining :)

[@mduckernz]

Yes, so many plastics are just slight variations on side chains used. Sometimes they can have quite dramatic effects!

[@funwithtransistors6542]

Do it with PVA and crosslink with Potassium Silicate and let it get hard. Bounce that, It's hilarious how much a hard and solid plastic will bounce.

[@hattree]

Lookup the incredibly weird "Silicones, the answer"

[@josephpotter5766]

Well.... that was certainly a thing. Well worth the brain damage, i'm sure...

[@tulsatrash]

Not snackable, but whackable. Bouncy Ball.

[@notyouraveragegoldenpotato]

Making waterglass is harder than this😂 just mix sodium silicate snd ethanol. Tadaaa. Imma try it. I have a bunch of water glass

[@neon_Nomad]

Food safe please lmao