We were mixing ethyl alcohol and glue, and borax and silicone silicate to see if binders were universal, or specific to the monomers they bonded in our previous labs. First, we mixed the ethyl alcohol and glue, and nothing happened besides a thinning of the glue. Then, we added borax and silicone silicate, in a different container, and again nothing happened. We then added the two containers of ethyl alcohol and glue, and borax and silicone silicate, and it quickly transformed into an odd, flakey, and hard polymer. It looked like a boiled egg rolled in coconut. It neither bounced nor molded. We can conclude from this that binders are specific to a particular monomer and can't be used with any type of monomer.
