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Odorless and tasteless, silicone rubber is prized by many industries for its inherent inertness. Its attributes make it ideal for the food and medical industries, where silicone rubber is used in bottle nipples, conveyor belting, tubing and even implants. They also make it an effective, dependable o-ring and seal material, as well as the perfect choice for coolant and heating hose. Due to its complete lack of conductivity, it is even used extensively in wire and cable insulation, especially in naval and household applications.

Silicone rubber products are often produced from a premixed compound rather than a manufacturer-made compound. This facilitates the fabrication process, which then may only require a catalyst and/or curing operation. When made correctly, silicone rubber will not deteriorate, and can be used in solid form in high-strain automotive and industrial applications. Not to be confused with silicon, silicone rubber is an inorganic polymer based on a silicon-oxygen chain. It resembles a modified quartz molecule, and it retains some of quartz’s properties as well as rubber’s plastic-like qualities. Its basic polymer involves the combination of two methyl groups with each silicon-oxygen group. The methyl provides the plastic-like properties, such as flexibility, while the silicon-oxygen chain provides stability. Methyl-vinyl silicones are the most common types of silicone rubber compounds, mainly because vinyl aids in vulcanization and offers additional benefits in the material. Silicone rubber is more stable than carbon-based polymers due to the superior stability of the silicon atom in its polymer chain.

Silicone rubbers come in a variety of forms and compounds. High-consistency rubber provides high tracking resistance in high-voltage operations. It can be injection molded into insulators and arrestors. Silicone foam rubber provides the stable and inert properties of silicone rubber with the flexibility and softness of foam. Foam rubbers are classified with a Shore OO number, with the lower numbers signifying a softer material and higher numbers denoting harder foam. Tire rubber, for example, would rank near Shore OO 90, while soft, squeezable foam would land under 20. Liquid silicone rubbers can be co-injection molded with thermoplastics and used in sealing applications.