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Silicone rubber is a very durable material that is known for its excellent resistance to heat and damaging environmental factors. A solid silicone sheet is a common material used to make industrial rubber silicone parts for high temperature and outdoor applications. Using a high temperature material in industrial settings is important in creating and maintaining a safe and hazard-free work environment, making silicone parts the ideal type of material for harsh industrial environments. It is also highly resistant to damaging environmental factors allowing parts, such as a silicone seal or gasket, to remain durable in outdoor environments.
What Kind of Material is Silicone?
Silicone is a synthetic rubber material that is often used in industrial settings or in applications involving materials for human consumption if it is FDA approved. Unlike most rubber variations, including synthetic, solid silicone rubber is much stronger, able to resist a wider temperature range, and resistant to outdoor environmental factors. These durable properties of solid silicone can be attributed to its unique silicon-to-oxygen bonded polymer backbone structure. Silicone is considered an inorganic polymer due to its Si-O polymer backbone structure. Organic polymers, including natural rubber and other synthetic rubbers, all have a carbon-to-carbon backbone structure which affect the physical properties of the polymer. As an inorganic polymer, the polymer backbone structure of silicone rubber consists of a silicon-to-oxygen bonded structure rather than a carbon-to-carbon bonded structure. Due to its polymer backbone structure, “it has better: heat resistance, chemical stability, electrical insulation, abrasion resistance, and weatherability as well as ozone resistance” (omnexus.specialchem.com). Silicone rubber is known for being a heat stable material that can withstand extreme high and low temperatures over any other natural or synthetic rubber variation with an operating temperature range of -103 to +500 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Are Silicone Sheets Effective?
Silicone sheets are highly effective, in both industrial and residential settings, due to its excellent tensile strength at extreme temperatures, low compression set, resistance to damaging environmental factors, and excellent resistance to chemicals. Due to the makeup of solid silicone sheets, the Si-O bonds that make up its backbone structure gives it better resistance properties than natural variations of rubber. Because of its excellent properties, solid silicone sheets are commonly used to create industrial silicone parts for automotive and industrial applications. Solid silicone seals and gaskets are often used in both industrials in applications involving high temperatures, chemicals, and heavy impacts or weights. They may also be used in outdoor settings both industrially and residentially. For instance, outdoor industrial settings are exposed to damaging environmental factors, such as UV rays, ozone, oxygen, and moisture, that may cause damage and cause machinery to fail. In addition, solid silicone strips are commonly used residentially as weatherstrips to seal home windows and block out weather. Solid silicone is a resilient material, and it is able to provide reliable and long-lasting applications in abrasive settings or environments.
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(a) Is Silicone Rubber Water Resistant?
Silicone rubber extremely water resistant and is often used to seal liquids and is also often used in outdoor industrial and residential settings where it may be exposed to precipitation. Solid silicone is a hydrophobic material, meaning that it repels moisture. Case in point, “Since silicone rubber is hydrophobic, it retains only 1% of moisture even after prolonged exposure and thus effectively acts as a barrier against moisture” (researchgate.net). This makes solid silicone rubber the ideal material for sealing in moisture or other solvents in industrial settings. When sealing dangerous solvents or high temperature water, it is important to use a high temperature material that is reliable and able to prevent leakage. Having an impermeable silicone seal or gasket in an industrial setting can create a safe and accident-free workplace. Additionally, due to its high impermeability, solid silicone is often used outdoors where it may be exposed to wet weather conditions. Solid silicone is often used as weather seals for home windows or in the automotive industry as vehicle window, trunk, and door seals.
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(b) Is Silicone Resistant to Chemicals?
Silicone is highly resistant to chemicals due to its unique silicon-to-oxygen polymer backbone structure. Natural rubber and even some synthetic rubbers do not stand up well against chemicals and will eventually deteriorate with time. Due to its silicon-to-oxygen bonded backbone, solid silicone rubber is better resistant to chemicals than most natural and synthetic rubbers. Silicone rubber has excellent resistance to acetic acid, ammonia gas (hot and cold), corn oil, fish oil, lime sulfur, methyl ether, sodium sulfate, tartaric acid, and vinegar. Solid silicone rubber’s superior resistance to chemicals allows them to reliable materials for use in industrial settings. Corrosive chemicals can cause industrial seals and gaskets to deteriorate and fail – creating a hazardous work environment.
(c) Is Silicone Rubber Durable?
Silicone rubber is a durable material and is available in different durometers, or hardness. Durometer refers to the hardness of a material with the material becoming harder as the durometer rating goes up. Solid silicone sheets are available in 40, 50, 60, and 70A durometers. The lower the durometer rating, the softer the silicone will be. A 70A durometer sheet is going to be a relatively hard silicone material, meaning it will be much stiffer and less pliable than a sheet of 40A. Solid hard silicone rubber has a high tensile strength with a minimum tensile of 870 PSI, or pounds per square inch. Additionally, due to its low temperature resistance, solid silicone is able to retain its high tensile strength in low temperatures without becoming brittle and cracking.
Solid silicone rubber is a highly durable and long-lasting material, making it ideal for use in indoor and outdoor industrial settings. Silicone parts are highly valued in industrial settings due to the chemical resistant and high temperature material used to create these parts. Not only can they withstand extreme temperatures, but solid silicone is an impermeable material allowing it to efficiently seal moisture and chemicals. Furthermore, solid silicone is an environmentally resistant material that will not be damaged by UV rays, ozone, oxygen, and moisture, making it a versatile material that is suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. Overall, solid silicone is an extremely durable material that is a versatile material commonly used in both indoor/outdoor industrial and residential settings.
Is Silicone Rubber Durable?
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