Silicone is hot-air resistant, flexible at low temperatures and maintains its properties within a very wide temperature range from very low to very high.

It is therefore ideal for applications in the automotive and transport sector, in aerospace, mechanical engineering and the domestic appliances.

If such properties were also available in a silicone foam, this would open up a host of potential new applications.

Researchers at WACKER SILICONES have developed a flexible material that fulfills the three primary requirements for silicone foam.

First, the foaming agent (known technically as a “blowing agent”) is sufficiently flexible for use in either extrusion or press-molding of silicone foam articles.

Second, either peroxides or tiny amounts of a platinum catalyst can be used to induce permanent crosslinking (i.e. curing or vulcanization) of the hot silicone rubber.

And third, the foam is odorless, tasteless and food safe.

The modern silicone foams from WACKER SILICONES are therefore excellent insulating materials, not least because of their extremely low toxicity:

They are CFC-free and, in a fire, do not produce any toxic vapors, releasing only water vapor and carbon dioxide.₂ The smoke density of this silicone foam is minimal.

Combined with the possibility of making the material flame-resistant and, in the event of a fire, ceramifying from the start, this opens up a wealth of possibilities for safety-related sealing applications, such as cable glands and fire compartment penetrations.

In future, it is likely that silicone foams will be found almost everywhere that organic foams are used at present. And they will also have greater durability and better fire safety.

In three to five years, these applications could then be followed by the use of seals or other foam items in the food or medical technology industry.

The possibilities opened up by the material’s approval for use with food have hardly been exploited at all yet.