The volatile content of silicone rubber has a significant impact in practical applications, and its content is directly related to product performance, safety and service life.Volatile components refer to the volatile substances released by silicone rubber under specific conditions, including unreacted monomers, oligomers and additive residues.The presence of these volatile components may cause a series of problems.


In food contact applications, excessive volatiles will bring direct health risks. 


In the field of industrial sealing and electrical and electronic engineering, volatile residues will accelerate the aging of materials.When silicone rubber is used in outdoor seals, the residual volatile components will accelerate the diffusion and precipitation under ultraviolet radiation, causing the surface of the sealant to harden, become brittle, and even crack.


This kind of performance deterioration is particularly obvious in high-temperature environments such as automobile engine compartment seals and electronic component potting adhesives, which may cause sealing failure or electrical short circuit.


The control of volatile components in the aerospace field is more stringent.The seals in the aircraft cabin need to meet the extreme temperature difference requirements of -75℃ to 200℃. Volatile residues will pollute the surface of optical instruments, reduce the light transmittance of aviation transparent parts, and even corrode precision electronic equipment.


In the thermal aging test of a certain type of silicone rubber at 200℃×24h, if the volatile components are not handled properly, the volume resistivity may drop by two orders of magnitude, which seriously affects flight safety.


The medical field is more concerned about the biocompatibility of volatile components. In the clinical application of a medical silicone rubber catheter, there have been cases of thrombosis caused by excessive volatiles, which highlights the importance of volatiles control.
 
A Japanese company adopts a secondary vulcanization process and roasts at 200-250℃ for 4-8 hours, which can reduce the volatile content by more than 60%.These technological breakthroughs provide quality assurance for the application of silicone rubber in the field of high-end manufacturing.


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