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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.
Silicone CG Gray – 50A
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.
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.
Silicone CG White – 50A
- Has a good level of resistance against fungus
- Can be used outdoors thanks to durability against UV and ozone
- If you need a custom seal or gasket made out of this white silicone rubber, we encourage you to send in a drawing of the parts needed
Non-Marking, Professional Aesthetic: While other rubbers often come in a standard black, we offer a white colored alternative. White nitrile is meant to give an application a sleek, modern, and professional appearance while functioning the way a proper nitrile elastomer is supposed to. Even more importantly, a white elastomer is a non-marking material that will not leave any marks or stains on the objects it comes into contact with. The white colored nitrile is suitable for use in cosmetics, grocery stores, and medical applications where white is better suited for aesthetics than black.
Oil-Resistant Rubber: Nitrile, or Buna-N rubber as it was originally known, was developed to be an oil-resistant alternative to natural rubber back in the years after World War I. Nitrile material is still used today whenever good oil and grease resistance is needed. White nitrile can resist organic and synthetic oils. While other types of elastomers can degrade when exposed to oils and greases, nitrile rubber can keep its form and integrity, making sure that it does its part to keep your application functioning.
Silicone – Premium Grade – Gray – 60A
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.
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.
Silicone CG Blue – 60A
- Color variation comes from regular blue to light blue
- Also available in a lower silicone shore hardness of 50A
- Can be exposed to UV and ozone due to resistance factors
- Features a great level of resistance to fungus and certain chemicals
60A Silicone Shore Hardness: Thanks to a 60A durometer rating, this commercial silicone is durable enough to be used in applications that may involve physical abrasions. A rating of 60A gives the material a better ability to resist physical indentation on its body. This helps to ensure that the blue silicone sheets last for longer periods of time. This material is meant to favor physical durability over flexibility, so use it in application that require some more rigidity from your rubber parts.
Temperature Resistant Rubber: In most cases, extreme temperature conditions can damage a rubber. That is not the case with silicone rubber. This high quality commercial silicone rubber can operate in temperatures that range from -103 F to 450 F. Silicone is regularly used in a wide variety of applications that involve either very cold or very hot temperatures. These blue silicone sheets will help you identify parts based on their chemical compound. Since most other rubbr sheets (e.g. neoprene, epdm) are not blue, your staff can easily pick out material based on color.
Silicone CG Black – 50A
- A hard to find black silicone sheet rubber
- Resistant to fungus and some chemicals
- This black silicone material can resist UV and ozone
- Stocked in popular gauges: 1/32″, 1/16″, 1/8″, and 1/4″
Flexible Rubber Sheet: This silicone (50 Durometer) elastomer is well suited for use in applications that require a more flexible material instead of a rigid one. A low durometer rating indicates that the rubber is less resistant to physical indentation, but much more pliable for the purposes of flexibility. Additionally, a lower durometer elastomer is less dense and more pliable that has a high durometer.
High Temperature Material: Silicone rubber is the go-to elastomer for any applications that involve extreme temperatures. This particular black silicone sheet has an operating temperature range of -103 F to 450 F. You can employ this flexible silicone sheet in very cold settings and very hot settings without having to worry about it suffering from immediate damage.
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.
Silicone – Commercial Grade Brown – 50A – 1/4″ x 36″
