Silicones improve other materials’ performance – making them more efficient, more durable, and more reliable. These compounds inspire our imagination and enable new products to be developed. In a society that runs on performance and a desire for sustainability, silicones are essential materials.
Silicones take numerous forms and can be engineered to deliver an unlimited range of benefits. What are these benefits?
Silicones are a combination of the best features of silicon-based glass and carbon-based plastic. They are resistant to temperature and moisture, chemically inert, and dielectric-like glass. But they can also be strong and assume many forms like plastics. Thanks to their chemistry, they form unique materials unlike anything else in this world. Silicones are strong and able to assume many forms.
Silicones are amazing little things. They can be used for a wide range of critical functions in today’s world, from adhesives to release agents and antifoams to foam stabilizers.
A host of solutions that meet people’s and society’s needs
Silicone materials are known for being efficient, durable, and reliable. They outperform and outlast most organic materials in a variety of ways. In short, they make sustainable innovation possible!
- Good wetting and spreading: Silicones spread evenly and wet quickly over surfaces where other materials would bead and clog.
- Long-term elasticity, pliability, and flexibility: They can be stretched, twisted, dropped, or compressed, to only regain their original shape.
- Weather resistance: Silicones are known for their long-term resistance to rain, sleet, snow, ozone, and damage from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. They are also resistant to acid rain.
- Stability under challenging conditions: Silicones can withstand high temperatures, thermal shock, chemicals, and oxidation without being damaged or degraded.
- Resistance to aging: Silicones are not susceptible to the types of degradation, they do not harden, crack, peel, crumble, dry out, rot or become brittle with age the way carbon-based organic materials do.
- Inertness: Unless specifically designed to do so, they are not reactive to most materials.
- Water repellency: Silicones are naturally hydrophobic materials. They do not absorb water, making them ideal for waterproofing applications.
- Strong adhesion properties: Silicones can provide a strong bond between substrates that would not normally be able to adhere to one another.
- Excellent dielectric properties: Silicones are popular for electrical insulation because they help to protect the integrity of wires, cables, and electric circuitry.
What is the best kind of silicone?
There is a range of different brands of structural silicone on the market. Dow silicone is perfect for structural aluminum and glass applications. This industrial-strength structural silicone is the highest quality version on the market. It cures to create a durable, fully waterproof seal.
Choosing high-quality silicone also ensures that any glazing installation will be thermally efficient and airtight, which are fundamental factors in minimizing heat loss.
Now let’s go over 2 types of silicone before we move on to polysulphide:
Glass Silicone
Dow silicon: Designed for glass adhesion and sealing
Uses
- The adhesion and sealing of glass
- Window and door glass
- Indoor and outdoor glass
- Glass and ceramic material adhesion and sealing
Benefits
- One-component adhesive/sealant
- 100% silicone sealant
- Fascinating adhesion to glass
- Cures at room temperature
- Cures to a tough, flexible rubber
- Acetoxy cure system
- Non-sag, paste consistency
- Ease of application compared to non-silicone materials
- Stable and flexible from -40°C to +150°C
Aluminum Silicone
Dow aluminum: designed for bonding and sealing applications
Uses
- The adhesion and sealing of aluminum
- Aluminum doors and windows
- Outside and inside doors and windows
- Building construction applications
- Bonding industrial applications.
- One-component multi-purpose sealant aluminum
- General-purpose silicone glazing sealant
- Moisture-proofing, caulking, and forming in-place gaskets
Benefits
- Non-slumping silicone paste/rubber
- Resistant to weathering and extreme temperatures
- Fascinating adhesion to aluminum
- Easily Applied One-Part, High-Modulus Formula
- Acetoxy cure system
- Flexibility
- Good dielectric properties
Polysulfide
What is polysulfide?
Polysulfide sealant is a versatile and reliable way to create seals in many applications. Thus, it is a very common choice when it comes to sealing joints due to its effective-adhesion and high-flexibility, both of which are crucial with joints. It can be used for almost everything. The synthetic rubber material in it has excellent adhesive properties, allowing it to securely grip both surfaces while remaining flexible enough to accommodate stress and temperature changes.
The main purpose of polysulfide joint sealant is to seal off various joints, stopping the water from accumulating in cracks. It creates a strong seal on both of the surfaces, lessening the risk of water leaking erosion. Since polysulfide sealant is not water-soluble, is chemical resistant, and due to its strong adhesion property, its resistance makes it a popular choice for construction projects.
As you can notice, polysulfide serves a wide variety of purposes. They are such consistent materials that many industries rely upon them to make their projects last longer.
Silicone vs Polysulfide: which is better?
Chemically s[eaking, the two sealants have different properties that may make one better for a particular application than the other. Both silicone and polysulfide have their own advantages and disadvantages. Let’s start with a comparison table:
|
Polysulfide |
Silicone |
|
Poor recovery in high cyclic movements |
Accommodate 50% movement. |
|
Exhibit excellent chemical resistance |
Excellent low temperature movement capability |
|
Good performance in submerged conditions. |
Excellent UV and heat stability |
Polysulfide sealants are water and chemical resistant, but they do not handle cyclic movement well enough to be considered a high-performance sealer. Swimming pools and other areas where submersion must be tolerated are where they are most commonly used in structures. A primer is frequently required for polysulfide sealants. They’re usually a little pricey.
Silicone sealants are utilized in a wide range of architectural applications because of their great performance features: UV resistance, temperature resistance, highest movement capability, generally longer service life, and continuous flexibility over time. Silicone sealants have a strong odor and require a long time to cure completely. In glass assemblies, they can be used structurally. The price of silicone sealants is quite expensive.
Ultimately, silicone is generally thought to be a better sealant but it is always about the purposes and conditions of the use