[m0rgz1e]

G'day all.

I have a small amount of chemistry knowledge but should be able to understand all the technical terms.

 There's a product in the automotive detail industry (not naming names) that's advertised as being different when it comes to restoring plastics.   when applied  has an instant chemical reaction forming covalent bonds that offers a more "permanent" lasting finish.   15mL of solution for $40.

If you were to look up  plastic restore covalent bonds,  it pretty much comes up on every link in the first page of google.

I  want to experiment with making my own covalent bond forming solution however I don't know where to start? Is this something that can be made from home? or something that has to be done with controlled variables in a lab to make some sort of polymer restoring solution?   
 the only useful bit of knowledge I have is:

Polymers, in general, have six primary atoms responsible for forming bonds: carbon, hydrogen, chlorine, oxygen, nitrogen, and fluorine. All of these atoms lack some valence electrons and, therefore, are chemically reactive – they want to ‘link up’ with other atoms.

Thanks  all for reading.

[EDIT]

Upon doing more research, the proper term I'm refering to is.

Chemical Grafting

[m0rgz1e]

The Mechanism of Chemical Grafting

APS substrate activators have the unique capacity of
removing active hydrogens from substrates and
initiating the growth of polymer chains at that site. By
removing these hydrogens, an electron is removed
forming a free radical. This free radical site needs
an electron to stabilize its state and will share the
electron with the present monomers forming the
chemical bond. Following represents the four step
reaction of APS' chemical grafting process using M
to represent a metal substrate (carbon steel,
stainless steel, copper, bronze, brass, etc.):

1)        Activation: free radical formation
substrate activator
MOH          MC*
2)        Chemical Bonding of monomers:
MO       
(CH2 — CH)n
x        x = functional group that changes with
each monomer and determines the property
3)        Formation of small polymer side chains: n =
controlled chain length of monomers (same or
varied)
4)        The reaction is then terminated with a special
formulation ingredient so that all reactive
components are exhausted.

[m0rgz1e]

So my questions is, 

Could I possibly get ingredients at a chemical supply agency to make a substance that forms covalent bonds with polymer plastics,  or does it have to be prepared in labs with right conditions like temperature and pressure. ?

[Arkcon]

I'm sorry you haven't had much help so far, both from Google nor from us.  However, this is a tougher problem than you may think.

Your descriptions are full of abstract buzzwords, that happen to use real words, that have definitions we know, in ways that aren't apt.  Covalent bonds is just a term for a type of bonding between atoms, its different from ionic bonds, but so typical, its not even worth mentioning.  Its as if someone wrote an advertisement --"Only the ImpactMaster^TM Structure Rod driver amplifies the manual force to literally force a steel rod into wood, parting the individual wood fibers with integrated GrippingNotches(patent pending) to seal adjacent pieces together."  That's just how all hammers drive nails into wood, the statement I made above says nothing more.  Much of what you've written, and what you've quoted is similarly meaningless.  Its not wrong, but there's nowhere for us to begin to help, because you really haven't said anything.

OK, you want to apply a finish to a plastic part that isn't a paint, but some sort of curing finish.  We have to first off assume something like that exists, and isn't an outright lie by the company.  We have to know the plastic's name.  And not its atoms please, as you found out, much of the world is made of pretty much just the same ones.  Next, we have to try to figure out what will attach the plastic, and bind another compound to it.  This is hard work.

As an example, I used solvent cement to bind polymethylmethacrylate (also called Plexiglas^TM) pieces together.  Solvent cement for this application is a solution of methacrylate monomer in the solvent dichloromethane.  Dichloromethane dissolves many plastics, and evaporates quickly.  With the monomer the only thing left behind, I essentially create new plastic at the junction.  The new union is very strong, often stronger than the piece.  Now you can tell, this isn't a surface treatment.  But I hope you can see, my description of how this works is better than your advertisement's explanation.

[MOTOBALL]

What does the label of  this wonder compound list ??

I would guess that it is mostly (95-99%) a solvent mixture, as per Arkcon's example, together with a few percent of "other active ingredients".

[m0rgz1e]

Thanks Arkcon for your detailed post!  Knowing what's actually happening and whats marketing Jargon will be a big help for me to ask better questions for people who may have an idea.

Plastic Trim Restorer Brand http://australia.gtechniq.com/shop/3s-for-cars/exterior-coatings/c4-permanent-trim-restorer/

I believe car exterior plastic trim  is some sort of polyethylene, such as HDPE.

Motoball - Unfortunately I haven't been lucky enough to get my hands on the product,    All I can say is its a "nano coat"  which really probably doesn't help much out either.


What makes a nano coat, a nano coat?  or is that marketing slang aswell?

[Arkcon]

"Nano" is a common buzzword.  Although nanotechnology remains hot these days, they really only happen under laboratory controlled conditions.   From some of the other information on the page, it really does seam that this product is an air-curing plastic coating, and not just a paint or cleaner.  Offhand, some sort of epoxy based resin is the typical name for this sort of thing, but I can't really help you with the specifics.