weird reaction - may need a chemist (NSA?)

[airhead]

I was wanting to thin some PVA (Elmer\\\'s Yellow Wood Glue) for some terrain work. Instead of water, I used airbrush media thinking it would thin the glue and add a bit of adhesive as well.

Imagine my surprize when the two liquids turned into a putty.

What happened?

 

[Shawn R. L.]

Quick!!! Patent it!!

 

[funnymouth]

polymerized....???

 

[No Such Agency]

Was it soluble in water after it became a \"putty\"? Can you melt it with heat?

This is what you mixed, basically:

Polyvinyl acetate (PVA)

Acrylic (probably polymethyl methacrylate?):

I\'m not an organic chemist so I have no idea what might cause these two to polymerize with each other, or themselves, in a solution. And both products likely contain a soup of other components as well. I think we need a real chemist here!

 

[airhead]

I\'m waiting to see if it hardens/sets by tomorrow.

It didn\'t thin with water, more like go into suspension.

Heat didn\'t seem to do a whole lot to it. Just kinda sat there and got black on the edges...

Kinda reminds me of Floam or whipped cake frosting.

A bit from Liquitex\'s airbrush medium MSDS: (this is a Createx product, but they don\'t have an msds on the internet and I guessed they were similar)

10. Stability and Reactivity
REACTIVITY:
Stable at normal temperatures and pressure.
CONDITIONS TO AVOID:
None reported.
INCOMPATIBILITIES:
oxidizing materials
HAZARDOUS DECOMPOSITION:
Thermal decomposition products: oxides of carbon, various organic fragments
POLYMERIZATION:
Will not polymerize.

 

[airhead]

Next morning - it didn\'t really harden, but it did dry a bit and get stiffer. Kinda like sliced bread that has been left out.

 

[No Such Agency]

Well unless someone here chimes in with some incredible brilliance in polymer chemistry we may just have to conclude the two products are not compatible and leave it at that...

 

[RedSevenBlue]

well, don\'t look at me. I can ask all the teachers in my school.