Research status and development trend of ceramifiable silicone rubber composites: a brief review

Abstract

Ceramifiable silicone rubber composites (CSR) are one of the most important industrially produced elastic technical materials. At present, there is a strong demand for CSR in the high-tech fields of high-speed rail, nuclear power, rocket and aerospace, which are still to be met. Many scholars have committed to the research work of improving the thermal stability, flame retardant, mechanical properties by changing the silicone rubber (SR) matrixes and filler, tremendous advances in CSR have been made for over the last decades where CSR intended for the high technology fields has evolved through different generations. In summary, the first-generation research is based on matrix reaction, the second-generation research is on reaction products, and the third-generation research is on fillers effects. In this review, the evolution of CSR and the synthesis routes, reaction mechanism, and degradation mechanism are introduced and analysed; fillers, various types of CSR based composites as well as the flame retardancy and mechanical properties are reviewed. Finally, the problems of developing high-performance CSRs are proposed and discussed. This review provides a theoretical basis and supporting data for the application of high-performance CSR, as well as provides details on the fire prevention mechanism of CSR.

“Mica/silicate glass frit‐armored skeleton” in PDMS composite foam for improving fire‐proofing performance

“…As shown in Figure 9a, the cross-section of the CPF-6 residue was a clear transition region. On the upper surface of the residue, the organic PDMS molecules were transformed into inorganic nano-silica particles by the flame attack which coated the residue surface 10,30 (Figure 9b,c). The XRD results on the ablation surface also exhibited an amorphous "hump" 44 (Figure 9g).…”

“…9 However, the side chain organic groups of PDMS make them flammable and unstable when exposed to the flame or long-term high temperatures conditions, which breaks their original porous structure as well as deteriorates their mechanical strength, and protective properties against flame and heat. 10,11 Although a lot of work has been devoted to improving the flame retardancy of PDMS composite foam, 5,[12][13][14][15] to the best of our knowledge, there are still no reports on PDMS composite foam with good flame retardancy and simultaneously excellent thermal insulation performance and fire-proofing properties under prolonged flame attack or high temperatures. Therefore, developing the novel PDMS composite foam which can withstand the naked flame or extreme temperature conditions has nowadays become one of the greatest challenges requiring new strategies.…”

“…17 Due to their excellent fire and high temperature resistance, PCCs are widely used in fields such as cables, insulated wires, and aerospace. 10 One of the earliest studies on such kind of materials was conducted by Hanu et al 18 who prepared a ceramifiable polymer composite by adding alkali alumino-silicate mineral fillers into a silicone matrix. To reduce the ceramization temperature, a glass powder with a low-melting point was introduced into the ceramifiable silicone composite system by Wang et al 19 According to their results, the ceramization temperature was successfully decreased, but the composite suffered from severe shrinkage during the high temperature impact.…”

Flame retardancy, combustion, and ceramization behavior of ceramifiable flame‐retardant room temperature vulcanized silicone rubber foam

“…Camino et al 22,23 studied the thermal degradation mechanism and kinetics of organosiloxane, laying the theoretical groundwork for the investigation of ceramifiable polymer composites. Ceramability technology is currently being applied to a variety of polymer substrates, including ethylene‐vinyl acetate, 24 ethylene‐propylene‐diene rubber, 25 especially for silicone elastomer 26,27 . In addition, the preparation and properties of ceramifiable polymer foam composites have been studied.…”

“…Ceramability technology is currently being applied to a variety of polymer substrates, including ethylene-vinyl acetate, 24 ethylene-propylene-diene rubber, 25 especially for silicone elastomer. 26,27 In addition, the preparation and properties of ceramifiable polymer foam composites have been studied. Tang et al 28 created ceramifiable phenolic foam by incorporation of low melting point glass frits, and limiting oxygen index (LOI) of the foam can reach to 45.6%.…”