7 Reasons Why Silicone is the Optimal Choice
How much do you know about silicone? Surely, this commonly seen and heard material is no stranger to us. Yet, only a few of us truly understand silicone and why it has been so popular among the silicone product manufacturers over the past centuries. Worry not! This article intends to familiarize you with silicone, including this amazing material’s definition, applications, and strengths. Let us get started!
What Is Silicone Exactly?
Chemistrically speaking, a silicone or polysiloxane is a polymer made up of siloxane (−R2Si−O−SiR2−, where R = organic group). They are typically colorless oils or rubber-like substances. The term “silicones” was firstly coined by Frederic Stanley Kipping in 1901. However, the structure of Kipping’s molecules was later discovered to be different from those of ketones, meaning that silicone is no longer the correct term, rendering the term “siloxane” more precise and preferred by modern chemistry. Despite its alteration, silicone remains commonly used till current days.
Unlike silicon (a chemical element, a hard dark-grey semiconducting metalloid), silicone is a compound that contains silicon, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, along with other atoms. Silicon exists in nature and is mostly found as silica (the oxide of silicon, serving as the main constituent part of sand), while silicone is an artificial material applied to the production of many industrial goods by silicone product manufacturers.
How to make silicone? Simply put, the silicon atoms must be isolated from the silicon dioxide compound silica to produce silicone. Usually, silicone product manufacturers carry a set of processes by using numerous techniques that may or may not involve heating, distilling, and polymerizing, depending on the final use of the silicone products.
Why is Silicone So Good?
Safe, high temperature resistant, sustainable and eco-friendly, silicone demonstrates many useful characteristics, making them commonly used in industries from medicines, cookwares, vehicles, buildings & constructions to the army. Consequently, silicone is now one of the most popular elastomers for commercial and industrial usage alike. Here are 7 strengths of silicone to help you understand why it is the optimal choice for many silicone product manufacturers:
- Safe
For silicone product manufacturers, safety ranks first among all the silicone’s values. Containing zero BPA, latex, lead or phthalates, silicone product is not just safe for exposure, but direct touch! Safe and comfortable to skin contact, silicone is widely used in medical applications.
- Food Grade
As a low-taint, non-toxic material, silicone has the most necessary feature for the products in direct contact with food, such as plates, bowls, cookware, bakewares, and kitchen utensils. Also, since silicone is a flexible and non-stick material, bakewares and cookware that utilize silicone as their surfaces can be clean easily, without imparting flavor or odor to food.
- High and low temperature resistance
While acting as the insulator in heat-resistant potholders, silicone is also more conductive of heat than similar less dense fiber-based products, making it good for both insulation and conduction. The oven mitts made of silicone withstands temperature as high as 260 °C (500 °F)! This feature enables silicone-made cake pans, muffin molds, and baking mats to travel from the freezer to the oven, microwave or dishwasher without affecting food taste or quality.
- Sustainable
Silicone resists high and low temperatures, fire, oxygen, ozone, ultraviolet (UV) light, and natural aging. Silicone is a durable material that lasts for a long time, much longer than plastic products.
- Eco and environmental friendly
As previously mentioned, silicone is made from silicon, the constituent part of sand.
- Biodegradable
Despite being unbiodegradable, silicone does not break down into micro-plastics, making it more friendly to the eco system and environment and less harmful to animals, especially those living in marines, than plastic products.
- Recyclable
Another merit of silicone is that, unlike unbiodegradable plastics that may cause harm to ocean animals, silicone is recyclable. All you need to do is send silicone to specialized recycling companies to get it recycled and downcycled, before the silicone product manufacturers continue to make it into various products, such as an industrial lubricant or mulch.
Conclusion
The advantages of silicone are obvious. Its wide application makes it an indispensable and important material in all walks of life. In addition to the fields mentioned above, it is not uncommon to customize silicone, so as to use the custom silicone products to suit special needs.
As an expert silicone product manufacturer, XinHongFa has produced, manufactured, developed and customized silicone products since 2004. With expertise accumulated over the past 2 decades, we have been offering clients professional products and satisfactory services (including Walt Disney and Samsung). We are always on the front line of research and development. Of course, we support customization. We have more than 30 molding machines, plastic injection machines, and liquid injection machines, generating nearly 80 million RMB annually with custom silicone manufacturing. We are always happy to help you in any way possible!