A silicone sheet is an extremely resilient rubber material that is often used to create high temperature rubber parts for both industrial and residential use. Silicone material is considered an inorganic rubber due to the unique bonds that hold its polymer backbone structure together. Industrial silicone parts are made to withstand damagingly high temperatures even in the face of harsh environmental factors or caustic chemicals. High temp silicone sheets are hard materials and, depending on the hardness of the material, are flexible and pliable. Silicone rubber is the ideal material for high temperature applications that may be exposed to damaging environmental factors and extreme temperatures.

What is a Silicone Sheet?

A silicone sheet is a high temperature rubber material that is often used in industrial, automotive, and food service applications. Silicone rubber, also known as polysilixane or polydimethylsiloxanes, “is a durable and highly resistant elastomer (rubber-like material) composed of silicone (polymer) containing silicon together with other molecule like carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen” (omnexus.specialchem.co). Compared to all other rubber variations, including synthetic, silicone material can withstand a wider temperature range. A silicone sheet has an operating temperature range of -103 degrees Fahrenheit to +500 degrees Fahrenheit. This is thanks to the material’s unique silicon-to-oxygen polymer backbone structure. Most elastomers have a carbon-to-carbon backbone structure, but this unique bond of silicone and oxygen gives a rubber silicone sheet its excellent properties. Case in point, “silicone rubber has Si-O bond in its structure, and hence, it has better: heat resistance, chemical stability, electrical insulation, abrasion resistance, and weatherability as well as ozone resistance” (omnexus.specialchem.com). In addition, a silicone sheet is highly resistant to damaging environmental factors such as UV rays, ozone, oxygen, and moisture. These properties of a silicone sheet make it the ideal material for abrasive industrial applications that are exposed to outdoor environments or extreme temperatures. A silicone sheet also comes in different durometers, or hardness, including 40A, 50A, 60A, and 70A, which allows you to choose the degree of flexibility and pliability. The lower the durometer rating of the silicone sheet, the more flexible and pliable the material will be. Furthermore, a silicone sheet is available in different colors, such as red, white, red/orange, red, gray, brown, blue, black, white, and even translucent, though white silicone is generally reserved for FDA grade silicone. The various colors a silicone sheet is offered in is highly beneficial in industrial settings as it allows you to easily color code parts to applications. This helps keep an organized and safe workplace as wrong parts on an industrial machine can create hazards and can be costly to repair or replace. Due to these extraordinary properties of silicone rubber, a silicone sheet is a poplar material for creating industrial and FDA grade rubber parts.

• (a) Are All Silicones the Same?

  Not all silicones are the same and can be grouped into different groups, such as methyl, vinyl, and phenyl. More specifically, “According to ASTM D1418 standard, which covers a system of general classification or nomenclature for rubber and rubber lattices, silicone rubbers are classified as: methyl group; methyl and phenyl groups; methyl and vinyl groups; methyl, phenyl and vinyl groups; and fluoro, vinyl and methyl groups” (omnexus.specialchem.com). Each of these groups retain excellent thermal stability; however, the level of resistance may vary from group to group. For instance, one group of silicones may have better low temperature performance whereas another one may have better chemical stability. In addition, these groups of silicone rubber can also come in three main forms: solid, liquid, and room temperature vulcanized. Despite these various forms of silicone rubber, they generally retain the same physical and chemical properties. Case in point, the Si-O bond of its polymer backbone structure allows silicone material to retain a wide operating temperature range, excellent environmental resistance, low toxicity, low temperature flexibility, excellent insulation, excellent mechanical properties, and excellent chemical resistance.

  (b) Is Silicone Rubber More Durable than Rubber?

  Silicone rubber is more durable than most rubbers due to their unique silicon-to-oxygen bond that creates their polymer backbone structure. Silicone, like rubber, is considered an elastomer due to its ability to be stretched out then return to its original form. Due to its backbone structure, industrial silicone sheets have better heat resistance, chemical resistance, abrasion resistance, and resistance to damaging environmental factors, such as UV rays, ozone, oxygen, and moisture. Furthermore, as silicone sheet can remain flexible when exposed to low temperatures and can keep its form when exposed to high temperatures. For instance, “Some properties such as elongation, creep, cyclic flexing, tear strength, compression set, dielectric strength (at high voltage), thermal conductivity, fire resistance and in some cases tensile strength can be – at extreme temperatures – fare superior to organic rubbers in general…Silicone rubber is a material of choice in industry when retention of initial shape and mechanical strength are desired under heavy thermal stress or sub-zero temperatures” (Wikipedia.org). Organic rubber sheets will be subjected to embrittlement when exposed to low temperatures and can melt or become disfigured when exposed to high temperatures. Embrittlement causes the rubber material to harden and crack making the material weaker and unfit for applications. Overall, a silicone sheet is a much more durable material that organic rubber sheets and can last much longer in extreme temperatures and outdoor environments.

  (c) What is High Temp Silicone?

  High temp silicone is a material that is designed to withstand temperatures of up to +500 degrees Fahrenheit without burning or melting. A silicone sheet is the ideal high temperature rubber material due to its superior heat resistance. High temp silicone sheets are often used in industrial settings and in food service industries due to the extreme heat of these environments. This is a very important property to as many industrial settings dealing with extremely hot temperatures – non-toxic silicone rubber will help create and maintain a healthy and safe work environment. A silicone sheet is often used in extremely high temperature applications in place of other synthetic rubbers that cannot withstand extreme temperatures.

  (d) Does Silicone Smell Go Away?

  Silicone does not have an odor, but it can absorb odors and retain the smell of whatever application it is used for. A silicone sheet, even food grade, is odorless and will not emit any odor. Due to its +500-degree Fahrenheit operating temperature range, a silicone sheet will not burn; therefore, it will not emit any odor or any toxic fumes when heated. Although silicone rubber itself does not have an odor, it can eventually absorb odors and it will linger on the silicone material. The most common example of this would be food grade silicone rubber. Since silicone material is commonly used in food storage applications where odors from food can be absorbed by the material. Although a silicone sheet may absorb odors from applications, it will not retain it and will eventually go away with time.

Silicone rubber is an extremely durable material that is resistant to high temperatures and harmful environmental factors. A silicone sheet is a popular material used to make industrial silicone parts due to its excellent versatility in both indoor and outdoor industrial settings. Silicone material can stand up well against UV rays, ozone, oxygen, moisture, and caustic industrial chemicals. Due to these excellent resistance properties, a silicone sheet is a popular, versatile, and highly valued material used in harsh industrial environments, both indoors and outdoors.