Liquid Silicone Rubber
The implication of silicone rubber's chemical composition is that it behaves like an elastomer, even though it is chemically different from most other elastomers like natural rubber. Liquid silicone rubber is, on its own, not useful, but companies that use pure, unmixed liquid silicone rubber wield a high degree of control over final product composition and quality. Many companies enjoy this control, as slight variations in composition change a silicone rubber products' functionality. A given silicone rubber product's steam resistance, electrical conductivity, flame resistance, chemical resistance and many other properties are determined by the nature and quantity of additives and the manner in which they are mixed. Whatever their configuration, silicone rubber products are applied in a long list of settings which includes health care, laboratory, industrial and consumer products manufacturing, heating and cooling and many other settings.
Silicone rubber products are special in terms of their chemical composition and functionality, but the methods by which they are formed are very similar to the methods used to shape all other rubber products. The key differences are that liquid silicone rubber often must be combined with a catalyst in order to achieve desired functional qualities, and because of silicone's natural heat resistance, higher operating temperatures are required during the shaping process. Also, liquid silicone rubber is sometimes vulcanized in advance of shaping; this means that the rubber is treated to make it stronger and more durable. Otherwise, liquid silicone rubber can be extruded, injection molded and subjected to all other manner of thermoforming processes like all other varieties of natural and synthetic rubber. Extruding silicone rubber, for example, involves heating the raw silicone and forcing it through a die, which shapes the rubber into profiles, tubes, channels and other products. Injection molding and compression molding use mold cavities to create more complex shapes, and cell casting makes specialized shapes on a small scale.
