What Is Silicone Rubber Made Of

Silicone rubbers are widely used in industry and there are multiple formulations.

What is silicone rubber made of.

A high performance polymer originally developed to insulate electric motors and generators silicone rubber is derived from silicon metal and silica sand. While silicone rubber looks and feels like organic rubber it has a completely different type of structure than other elastomers. Silicone rubber is a semi organic synthetic made from sand and alkyl or aryl halides. Silicone is primarily made of silicon but also includes oxygen hydrogen and carbon.

Silicone rubber is a durable highly resistant elastomer rubber like material composed of silicone polymer containing silicon together with other molecule like carbon hydrogen and oxygen. It is a man made material and has viscoelasticity meaning that it is both viscous and elastic. Its primary ingredient is silica one of the most commonly occurring forms of sand. Silicones are used in sealants adhesives lubricants medicine cooking utensils and thermal and electrical insulation.

At the molecular level the silicone rubber polymer is made of a silica and oxygen backbone in contrast to the usual carbon backbone of most polymers. They are typically colorless oils or rubber like substances. What is silicone made of. Silicone rubber is an extraordinary material tough enough to withstand the demands of jet engines and safe enough to use for baby bottle teats.

This polysiloxane chain is what is more colloquially referred to as silicone. Silicone rubber is an elastomer rubber like material composed of silicone itself a polymer containing silicon together with carbon hydrogen and oxygen. The silicon is then reacted with fossil fuel derived hydrocarbons to create the siloxane monomers alternating silicon oxygen atoms which are bonded together into polymers to form the backbone of the final. Materials that display viscoelasticity are known generally as rubbers.

Its structure always comprises siloxane backbone silicon oxygen chain and an organic moiety bound to the silicon.