Re: [ATM] Glass bonding and experimental connections

[Dominic-Luc Webb <dlwebb@canit.se>]

On Fri, 25 Feb 2005, Russell Jocoy wrote:

> successfully.. But we
> are in the matter of making a mirror to reflect light not refract it.. I am
> not saying that you don't
> understand , just that I don't understand...
>      How can water in a liquid state bond two pieces of glass and recieve
> the stress of the grind,


Russell and others,

This represents a mental challenge for the moment and like many
uncommon chemical practices, it seems unintuitive. The tightest
and most specific molecular interactions I know of are not via
covalent bonds, not even one. They occur through numerous hydrogen
bonds and van der Waals forces. This is for instance, the case for
antigen-antibody complexes in which dissociation constants, kd, are
in the range of 10e-14. People who have worked with these complexes
can testify as to how difficult they can be to break apart. There
are in fact many examples of how these comparatively weak bonds
create very tight bonds by vast numbers.

Most adhesives are generally applied with significant thickness
and upon drying forms what certainly amounts to a polymeric matrix.
This matrix will not have the properties of glass and will certainly
show significant thermal expansion, etc. I have in the past tried
using an oven to evaporate a very thin layer with seemingly good
results. I would guess something similar could be done with steam.

Dominic-Luc Webb

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