Liquid Silicone Rubber Foamed with Thermoplastic Expandable Microspheres

Abstract

To reduce the material costs as well as the density of Liquid Silicone Rubber (LSR), LSR foams can be produced in an injection molding process. Expandable thermoplastic microspheres can be used as blowing agents. This publication deals with the analysis of the cell structure of these LSR foams. For this purpose, cylindrical disks are injection molded and examined for their cell structure as a function of different proportions of microspheres using a scanning electron spectroscope. In addition, the density of the samples is determined. It was found that a very homogeneous cell structure is produced in this process, that heat transport has a significant influence on the expansion of the microspheres, and that the formation of a filler network limits the expansion at higher proportions of blowing agent.

Effect of polydiborosiloxane on the mechanical properties of silicone rubber foam with dual network structure

“…Using expandable microspheres as foaming agents, the size of cell can be controlled by the number of foaming agents and foaming rate, and the closed‐cell structure can be obtained. This closed structure is conducive to improve the compression performance and the high energy absorption efficiency of the material simultaneously 8,26–29 . Cai et al have prepared silicone foam materials with high compressive resistance and motion energy absorption efficiency using expandable microspheres as blowing agents.…”

“…Silicone rubber as a polymer elastomer is extensively used in various field due to its excellent thermal stability, 1 mechanical property, 2 biocompatibility, and radiation resisting property. [3][4][5][6][7] Silicone rubber foam, as a kind of porous fixable material, 8,9 not only exhibits the advantages of silicone rubber, but also have light weight, heat insulation, sound insulation, energy absorption, and shock resistance. [10][11][12] Therefore, silicone foam material is widely used in electromagnetic shielding, 13 flexible tactile sensor, 14 aerospace industry, 15 and other aspects.…”

“…This closed structure is conducive to improve the compression performance and the high energy absorption efficiency of the material simultaneously. 8,[26][27][28][29] Cai et al have prepared silicone foam materials with high compressive resistance and motion energy absorption efficiency using expandable microspheres as blowing agents. The existence of expandable microspheres can make the foam have good toughness and effectively consume impact energy, and provide new prospects for expanding the application of foam in the field of impact and damage resistance.…”

Development of a Silicone Rubber Mold with an Innovative Waterfall Cooling Channel

“…A conformal cooling channel (CCC) [ 1 ] refers to a specific category of the cooling system designed for dies or molds used in various manufacturing processes, such as blow molding [ 2 ], metal forming [ 3 ], plastic injection molding [ 4 ], die casting [ 5 ], and metal injection molding [ 6 ]. The feature of CCC is to optimize heat dissipation during the cooling stage of the various manufacturing processes.…”

High Consistency Silicone Rubber Foams

“…The vulcanization methods that have become established for this process are vulcanization using hot air and infrared radiation [9,10]. In each of the fields of application described above, as with other plastics, it is possible to make the desired components lighter and less expensive by foaming the material with blowing agents [11].…”