High temperature silicone rubber possesses many unique and superior properties that ordinary rubber lacks. As a special type of synthetic rubber, it has been widely used across various sectors of the national economy, including aerospace, international military industry, electronics and electrical applications, mechanical manufacturing, construction, petrochemicals, healthcare, and everyday life.
Electronics Industry
High temperature silicone rubber is highly resistant to both high and low temperatures, with excellent electrical properties that remain stable over a wide range of temperatures and electrical frequencies. Products made from high temperature silicone rubber help ensure the stable, safe, and reliable performance of electronic and electrical devices. Common applications include electrical connectors, electrical sealing and shock-absorbing components, and high-temperature potentiometer sealing rings. Conductive high temperature silicone rubber, which incorporates conductive fillers such as carbon black or metal powders, can be used for conductive connectors in devices like computers, remote control systems, electronic toys, and telephones, as well as conductive contact pads in electronic watches. These materials offer stable performance and accurate digital display. Conductive silicone rubber products are also widely used in microwave ovens, fax machines, and lead-free integrated circuits. Additionally, many components in televisions are made of silicone rubber, including the high-voltage caps.
Wire and Cable Industry
Silicone rubber is an ideal insulating material for the wire and cable industry. High temperature silicone rubber is resistant to heat, ozone, and weathering and has excellent electrical properties. Even when it burns and decomposes, the resulting silicon dioxide residue still provides insulation. It also has good thermal conductivity, allowing efficient dissipation of heat generated by electrical loads. With outstanding arc resistance, high temperature silicone rubber is used in various wire and cable applications, including power cables, marine cables, heating cables, ignition cables, nuclear power cables, and aerospace wiring. In high-voltage insulation lines, adding aluminum hydroxide fillers to silicone rubber enhances its resistance to electrical tracking, electrical erosion, and arcing.
Automotive Industry
In automotive applications, rubber components such as bushings, cushions, belts, protective covers, caps, and seals near the engine and transmission must withstand temperatures of up to 175°C, while some parts require resistance to temperatures exceeding 300°C. Ordinary organic rubber is unsuitable in such conditions, necessitating the use of silicone rubber. High temperature silicone rubber is also used in sealing high-temperature furnaces, low-temperature refrigeration units, structural components, hot product conveyor belts in metal processing, and thermal adhesive tapes.
Aerospace
Vehicles like launch rockets, space shuttles, spacecraft, and satellites operate in extreme and complex environments, requiring materials that can withstand prolonged exposure to ultra-high and ultra-low temperatures (-75 to 200°C), ozone, radiation, and aging while also being flame-retardant. High temperature silicone rubber is the only material that meets these demands. Specific applications in this field include hoses, sealing gaskets, diaphragms, valve components, shock-absorbing elements, hot air ducts, switch covers, oxygen masks, fire barriers, instrument tubing, cushioning pads, electrical wires, cables, plugs, sockets, and switch buttons.
Medical and Healthcare Industry
High temperature silicone rubber is non-toxic, biocompatible, and has excellent physical and mechanical properties. It can withstand high-temperature sterilization without degradation, making it increasingly useful in the medical field. Applications include blood transfusion tubes, various catheters, thoracic drainage tubes, cosmetic and reconstructive materials, artificial skin, implanted medical materials, drug-release systems, and biosensors. It is also used to create artificial organs such as artificial larynxes, lungs, retinal implants, artificial heart valves, esophagus, trachea, artificial joints, and prosthetic limbs. For patients who have undergone laryngeal removal, an artificial larynx made of high temperature silicone rubber allows them to regain their ability to speak, eat, and breathe normally. The applications of high temperature silicone rubber in healthcare can be categorized into long-term implants, short-term medical devices, cosmetic medical instruments, drug delivery systems, and external medical products.
Other Applications
Silicone rubber membranes made from high temperature silicone rubber have excellent breathability, with permeability rates tens to hundreds of times greater than conventional polymer films such as polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, and polytetrafluoroethylene. These membranes also exhibit selective gas permeability, making them ideal for applications such as controlled-atmosphere windows, fresh-keeping bags for vegetables and fruits, food storage rooms, and mixed-gas separation systems. High temperature silicone rubber is also used in manufacturing printing rollers for copiers, pressure cooker gaskets, and various sealing components for household and industrial applications.
