Rico group. (2022, August 11). How Is Silicone Produced? SIMTEC. https://www.

simtec-

silicone.com/blogs/how-is-silicone-produced/

A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO THE PRODUCTION OF SILICONE

Isolating silicon from silica is the first step in the production of silicone. This is done by
heating a large volume of quartz sand to temperatures as high as 1800˚C. The result is pure,
isolated silicon, which is allowed to cool and then ground into a fine powder.

To make silicone, this fine silicon powder is combined with methyl chloride and heated once
again. The heat triggers a reaction between the two components, forming what is known as
methyl chlorosilane. Methyl chlorosilane is actually a mix containing several compounds, the
most predominant of which, dimethyldichlorosilane, is the main building block of silicone.

Getting from dimethyldichlorosilane to silicone requires a complex distillation process in

which the various components of the methyl chlorosilane are separated from one another.
Because different chlorosilanes have different boiling points, this can be done by heating the
mixture to a series of precise temperatures.

After distillation, water is added to dimethyldichlorosilane, which causes it to separate into

disilanol and hydrochloric acid. The hydrochloric acid then acts as a catalyst for the disilanol,
causing it to condense into polydimethylsiloxane.

Polydimethylsiloxane, as you’ll notice, contains the siloxane bond, which is the backbone of
silicone. From there, silicone is polymerized using a variety of methods depending on the
desired properties of the end product.

While the production of silicone may seem complex, in reality it’s fairly straightforward and
can be done on a mass scale for a relatively low cost. As such, it’s little wonder that versatile
silicone has emerged as one of the most popular elastomers for commercial and industrial
use.
Material Science Insights. (2022, July 5). What are the different processing methods for

silicone rubber? Magazine. https://magazine.elkem.com/material-science-

insights/different-processing-methods/

What are the processes for silicone transformation?

Silicone processing methods are a series of widely used manufacturing processes which
transform silicone rubbers to create a final product with specific characteristics: shape,
hardness or elasticity, color, degree of transparency, tear strength, resistance to environmental
or mechanical stress, etc.

The reason why silicone rubbers are so versatile is because they have a chemical structure
based on alternating units of silicon and oxygen. They can be manufactured with different
organic and carbon groups, as well as additives and fillers that are integrated into their
molecular framework. According to the combination of organic groups and the compounding
methods used, silicone rubbers are available in a wide range of formats, enabling them to be
adapted to different manufacturing processes for the making an almost endless number of
products.

The most widely used processes are:

 Injection molding for High Consistency Rubber and Liquid Silicone Rubber
 Compression Molding
 Transfer Molding
 Extrusion
 Calendering
The choice for using one or another of these processing techniques depends on several
factors: the complexity of the component, its size, the number of units produced, available
budgets, the need for special characteristics, durability, etc. Therefore, it is essential to
understand the materials and processes to optimize quality, productivity and consistency.
Let’s have a closer look at these techniques.

Liquid Silicone Rubber (LSR) injection molding

Liquid silicone rubber is a high-purity, two-component platinum-cured silicone reinforced
with specially treated silica. It is specially formulated for producing technical parts, where
strength, resistance and high quality are a must. LSRs are less viscous than HCRs and
therefore pumpable materials, ideal for liquid injection molding.
The primary difference between LSR and HCR is the “flowable” or “liquid” nature of LSR
materials. Also, while HCR can use either a peroxide or a platinum curing process, LSR uses
only additive curing with platinum. Due to the thermosetting nature of the material, LSR
injection molding requires special treatment, such as intensive distributive mixing, while
maintaining the material at a low temperature before it is pushed into the heated cavity and
vulcanized.

How does the LSR injection molding process work and what advantages does it produce?
LSR injection, like its HCR counterpart, is used for creating molded end-products in cavities.
The LSR process uses unheated liquid or viscous material that is pumped by an injection
nozzle into the mold cavity. The raw material is simply funneled into the closed heated cavity
using pressure, instantly filling the cavity. Because of its simplicity, LSR injection molding is
a very rapid manufacturing method, extracted directly from drums or pails using a dosing
unit, with fast turn-around time, ideal for producing very high volumes of parts

The main advantages of LSR injection molding include:

 Short and accurate molding cycles
 High volume production
 Efficient and economical processing
 Versatility for making a wide range of general-purpose products
 Fast curing and excellent mold release

High Consistency Rubber (HCR) injection molding

High Consistency Rubber (HCR) is also referred to as Heat Cured Rubber or HTV (High
Temperature Vulcanizing) silicone rubber. This material is made from reactive silicone with
very high-weight macromolecules.

Various raw materials can provide specific features to the HCR, such as fumed or
precipitated silicas with high specific surface areas to improve mechanical properties, heat
stabilizers, plasticizers or anti-structuring agents.

HCR elastomers are superior to conventional organic elastomers, providing exceptional

mechanical strength at temperatures ranging from -50°C to +300°C. They also age well, are
chemically inert, stable when exposed to light or oxygen and can be colored easily or even be
transparent, ideal for food packaging and paramedical applications. Addition of various
additives to HCR opens unlimited customization solutions for existing and new applications
in a wide range of industries: Aerospace, Automotive, Healthcare, Oil & Gas, Construction,
Electronics, EVs, etc.
How does the HCR injection molding process work and what advantages does it produce?
A measured amount of HCR is injected directly from a cylinder through a screw mechanism
and a nozzle into a closed heated mold, through a gate. The material fills and packs the
cavities of the mold to form the part.

The main advantages of HCR injection molding include:

 Short and accurate molding cycles
 Lower unit costs
 Low waste of material
 Possibility of mixed molding with other materials, such as plastics or metals
 Consistent production, in terms of finished products
 Superior precision and filling for complex parts compared to, compression or transfer
molding.
It is arguably the most common and robust molding method, in which the product can vary
greatly in size, complexity, and application.

Silicone rubber extrusion

Silicone rubber extrusion is generally used to make hoses, cords, complex profiles and cross-
sectional parts, usually quite long and often multi-layered components, as well as rods, oven
seals, electrical cables, wire insulation, gaskets, seals, etc. The process uses an HCR
compound with catalysts that is preformed into a strip or loaf. The preform is then fed into a
screw extruder that forces the compound through a hardened steel die with a cutout pattern.
The profiled silicone then passes through a heated compartment on a conveyor and is cured
by continuously pulling it through an oven.

The main challenge for manufacturers using this technique is to choose the right grade of
silicone rubber with the adapted catalyst system that will perform best in their specific
mechanical and temperature and speed-controlled processes and will enable the final products
to meet specifications, tolerance criteria and comply with regulatory standards.

Silicone rubber calendering

Calendering is a mechanical process that involves compressing and smoothing a material in a
continuous manner by moving a sheet through pairs of heated rolls. These double or multiple
hard steel roll sets are known as calenders. They are adjusted for pressure to produce a
predetermined and uniform thickness, surface finish and texture for silicone rubber which can
be shiny, matte, smooth, adherent or embossed, etc.
The raw material, typically HCR, which determines the mechanical properties of the finished
product, is previously heat softened or extruded and then forced through the aligned
cylindrical rolls. The calendering process presses the uncured silicone preform into a
continuous silicone sheet. The silicone can then be pressed onto various substrates such as
release film liners or combined with a variety of fabrics, glass, plastics, etc.

The main advantages of calendering processing include:

 High-volume, continuous processing of quality products
 Standalone sheets (unsupported) delivered in protective liners or products in
combination with other materials, including organic or artificial fabrics (polyamide,
viscose, polyesters, etc.), glass, plastics, etc.
 Almost endless applications, from liners for construction, home products, clothing,
upholstery, food contact products, industrial conveyor belts, autoclavable products for
medical applications etc

Silicone rubber compression molding

For this process, the silicone rubber remains flexible and then placed in a heated mold and
closed using a sealed clasping system, with pressure applied to force the material to fill the
entire cavity. The heat and pressure are maintained until the silicone has cured.

Compression and injection molding are similar in that they fill a preformed cavity, but they
are different in that compression molds are prefilled directly with the charge, while in
injection molding, the charge is injected into a previously fully closed cavity.

Manufacturers of different types of parts often use both compression and injection molding
but for different types of parts. Generally, injection molding is preferred for making more
complex (and often smaller) parts, while compression is very efficient for simple or basic
designs and large parts that cannot be produced using extrusion techniques.

Other points of comparison include the fact that Injection molding has a shorter cycle time
and so is often faster and more cost-effective for large volumes, while compression molding
is mainly used for low and medium production series of parts.

The main advantages of compression molding processing include:

 Lower tooling costs

 Very little waste of material providing
  Cost effective, especially for large parts, but sometimes requiring post-mold finishing
processing due to unequal product consistency and some flashing (gaps not always
fully hollowed in grid patterns)
 Useful for some very large parts that cannot be made with extrusion molding
 Excellent for curved parts and useful for designing aesthetically creative parts, widely
used in the automotive industry, often replacing metal parts to lower weight and save
energy
 Used in several industries, including keypads for computers, kitchenware, electrical
parts and some medical and dental devices.

Silicone rubber transfer molding

Transfer molding is similar to compression molding in several ways: it uses HCRs, pressed
from an auxiliary chamber (known as a transfer pot) into a closed pressurized mold system
that incorporates a heated container above the mold where the silicone rubber is charged
using a piston-powered gate and runner system that can move relatively hard materials into
the mold before heating.

The silicone rubber transfer molding process is ideal for manufacturing high precision
silicone molded parts as well as ‘overmolding’ with other materials, thus enabling the
molding of complex geometries. The combination of HCR and the transfer molding process
leads to high quality manufactured parts that offer design flexibility and shorter production
cycles.

Transfer molding differs from compression in that the mold is fully enclosed and not in two
parts. For this reason, it also differs from injection molding in that requires higher pressure to
fill the mold. This also allows transfer molding to accept added fibers or matrices on its outer
layers, to produce customized reinforced parts.

The main advantages of transfer molding processing include:

 Reduced tooling costs
 Uniform, accurate and more consistent parts compared to compression molding due to
the one-piece mold and high dimensional tolerance
 Efficient and agile capacity for accepting different reinforcement fibers pre-positioned
in the mold, including glass, carbon and aramid, as well as natural plant fibers.
Rico Group. (2022, October 25). Liquid Silicone Rubber Injection Molding vs High

Consistency Rubber: Which Is Right for You? SIMTEC. https://www.simtec-

silicone.com/blogs/liquid-silicone-rubber-injection-molding-vs-high-consistency-

rubber-which-is-right-for-you/

High Consistency Rubber (HCR) injection molding disadvantages

The high-consistency rubber fabrication wastes material and has a high labor cost. It also
requires manual labor and additional tools and equipment. The cost of the equipment
however is less expensive than the molds required in the manufacturing of LSR (liquid
silicone rubber) products.
Engineering Product Design. (2022, February 21). Liquid Silicone Rubber & Liquid injection

moulding process guide. https://engineeringproductdesign.com/knowledge-

base/guide-to-liquid-silicone-rubber-moulding/

Advantages of Liquid silicone rubber

 Its low viscosity will allow the material to flow easily into thin and complex areas of
the mould.
 Superior compatibility with human tissue and body fluids
 Excellent chemical resistance
 Suitable for high-volume production
 Excellent mechanical characteristics, including good elongation, excellent tear
strength, high tensile strength, and a wide hardness range (5-80 Shore A).
 Process repeatability
 Short cycle time compared to compression moulding
 resistance to bacteria growth
 Process easily automated
 The ability to sterilize makes LSR suitable for medical and healthcare products.
 Adheres to rigorous FDA guidelines
 Great resistance and stability in the most consumer environment
 Excellent resistance to high temperatures than thermoplastics
 Suitable for complex and high precision parts
 High tear and tensile strength
Disadvantages of Liquid silicone rubber
 Once LSR cures, it cannot be moulded again, hence can’t recycle LSR
 High production time and cost
 Sticky feel if untreated making them attract dust and other particles
 They are not suitable for submerged applications in alcohol or gasoline
 when exposed to some materials such as sulfur and latex, LSR will inhibit its curing
 Limited choice of material for LIM process
 Silicone has limited grades to chose
Barbour, M. (2021, April 20). Advantages and Disadvantages of Compression Molding.

Liquid Injection Molding, Die Cutting and Rubber Molding | Elastomer Technologies.

https://www.etiroltec.com/advantages-disadvantages-compression-molding/

Advantages of Compression Molding

There are many advantages to choosing compression molding for a rubber or plastic
component manufacturing project, including, but not limited to, the following:

It is a simpler process.
The compression molding process is relatively simple and straightforward compared to other
molding and manufacturing processes. For some part designs this makes it easier for
operators to perform, which translates to lower overall production costs.

It involves lower tooling costs.

Compared to injection molding, compression molding does not require special equipment and
expensive complex tooling. As a result, the equipment and tools required for the operation
are much simpler, which typically means less capital investment. Although it is a labor
intensive process, when handled correctly, the wear and tear sustained by the molds during
operations is relatively small, which can mean less maintenance needed over time, resulting
in lower cost quotes for customers.

It is great for producing large items and thicker parts.

As the compression molding process involves loading the material directly into the mold
cavity, it is not subject to part weight limitations except for those imposed by the part design,
and equipment (e.g., size and pressure capacities). As a result, it can usually handle the larger
amounts of raw material needed to create bigger parts and products.

It can be a good choice for insert molding and multi color molding.

Done in a vertical compression press with the right approach to tooling this process lends
itself to some types of insert molding and dual color molding without the high cost of special
equipment, very expensive tooling, high set-up and material costs used in liquid injection
molding of silicone
It is cost-effective for short production runs.
Due to its lower tooling and setup costs, compression molding is ideal for small to medium
production runs. It is often used to create prototypes or samples of designs before proceeding
to large-scale production.

Disadvantages of Compression Molding

While the compression molding process carries many advantages for customers looking to
start a new part production, it also has a few disadvantages, such as:

It has a higher chance of post molding costs.

The size (projected area) of the part and its weight must be carefully calculated in relation to
the force available from the press used to shut and hold the mold closed during a molding
cycle. Even if this is optimal expect more parting line flash and and parting line control
issues that may need to be dealt with by hand trimming or nitrogen de-flash of the parts
adding cost.

It has slower processing times.

Compared to injection molding, compression molding requires more time to bring materials
to cured state. These slower processing times can affect production rates and costs in higher
volume projects.

It is not suitable for all complex designs.

The material used in compression molding operations may be subject to some limitations of
flow within the mold cavity. As such, it may not reach into more intricate portions of the
mold and tooling revisions may be needed to fill some parts. This quality makes the process
unsuitable for some complex part and product designs.
Apple Rubber. (2015, March 16). Transfer Molding: The Advantages and Disadvantages.

Official Apple Rubber Blog. https://www.applerubber.com/blog/3-advantages-and-

disadvantages-of-transfer-molding/

The Advantages of Transfer Moulding

1). High Cavity Count. In many cases, transfer molded rubber products require few and
simple pre-forms. One pre-form can fill hundreds of cavities. This is an advantage over
compression molding, and can save a significant amount of time in the molding process.
This is also an advantage over injection molding since there is not a runner to fill each cavity
reducing the number of cavitiess.

2). Design Flexibility. Transfer molding allows for sharper edges. Micro grind vents reduce
the need for overflows allowing for near flash less parts, greatly reducing deflash process or
allow flash limits to directly ship parts. With pot and plunger design, simplified preforms
required allowing for standardization and lower cost.

3). Short production cycle. Transfer molding offers shorter cycle times than compression
molding and can provide more consistency, too. The process allows for tighter tolerances and
more intricate parts.

The Disadvantages of Transfer Moulding

1). Complex molds. Since the design and mold tends to be complex, tooling can also become
expensive.

2).Waste material. Transfer pots typically produce higher volume waste than traditional
overflows in compression tools. Transfer molding typically produces a large pad with sprues.
The scraps are not reusable, since the polymers are thermosetting.

3). Mold Maintenance. Inserted transfer tools require more mold maintenance than
compression tools. Typically, inserts have to be taken out and reset to maintain movement
over time. Cleaning the tool can be time consumering, and sometimes special equipment like
dry ice blasters are used to clean the intricate transfer insert.
Process Industry Forum. (2018, October 22). Advantages and Disadvantages of Transfer

Moulding. https://www.processindustryforum.com/article/advantages-and-

disadvantages-of-transfer-moulding

Advantages of Transfer Moulding:

Shorter production cycles for higher weight parts
Transfer moulding offers shorter production cycle times than traditional moulding
techniques, such as compression moulding, as the compound preparation and product
finishing time is greatly reduced. This means there is less cutting and flash. Cure times are
reduced since the rubber enters the mould cavity at a higher and even temperature, and can
thus begin to cure more quickly.

Tighter dimensional tolerance

The overall process also allows for much tighter tolerances, leading to more complex parts,
which is difficult to achieve with compression moulding. Given that the mould is not held
open by surplus material spilling out of the cavity parting line, any excess holds the plunger
open from the pot, therefore not affecting the actual part being produced.

Provides better uniformity

The pot and plunger design allows for more standardisation and lower costs of tooling, and
the process is more consistent than Compression moulding, with less variables. The fact that
the mould is closed before accepting the shot means that the parts are more dimensionally
consistent across a production run.

Reduced tooling lead times compared to a full Injection tool

In relation to Injection Moulding, Transfer Moulding tooling offers much shorter lead-times
with less ancilliary features required. This means that the production run is ready faster with
far less tooling costs.

More accurate and consistent than compression moulding

Transfer moulding allows for much sharper edges, since rubber enters the cavity at near the
curing temperature. This vastly reduces any tendency for “backrinding”, which can be a risk
with Compression moulding. This occurs when rubber cures unevenly in a mould, and the
action of expansion, cure and shrink tears off pieces of rubber around the split line of a
mould. This is countered by increasing the width of the split line in a Compression tool, but
greatly increases the overall deflashing necessary as a consequence. Transfer Moulding
generally eliminates this issue, and thus allows for sharper split lines.

Disadvantages of Transfer Moulding:

More expensive tooling than a Compression mould
Due to the more complex nature of the design of the moulds, tooling investment can be
somewhat higher.

Slower production cycle than an injection tool

The Transfer moulding process is usually slower than an injection tool, sometimes limiting
the overall production rate, as changeover times can be somewhat extended.

Manual handling of the piston can be a problem

The skill level is often proportionately higher and for larger parts or tools, manual handling
can become somewhat of an issue.

Overall, the process of Transfer moulding is ideal when looking to form: parts which require
exact positioning of inserts to be bonded, and/or intricate parts with lower volume
requirements and mould designs that contain multiple cavities or can trap air. This process is
also best suited to those seeking a much more consistent approach to production. Although it
may be more expensive than a compression mould, transfer moulding offers shorter
production cycle times than traditional moulding, as there is less cutting and flash and can be
a good intermediate step between the tooling economy of Compression moulding and the
capital expense of Injection moulding.
ClubTechnical. (2019, March 24). Extrusion Process | Types, Advantages, Disadvantages,

Applications. https://clubtechnical.com/extrusion

Advantages of extrusion
 Low cost per part
 Flexibility of operation
 In hot extrusion, post execution alterations are easy because product is still in heated
condition
 Continuous operation
 High production volumes
 Many types of raw materials can be used
 Good mixing (Compounding)
 Surface finish obtained is good
 Good mechanical properties obtained in cold extrusion
Disadvantages of extrusion
 Variations in size of product
 Product limitations because of only one type of cross section can be obtained at a time
 High initial cost setup
Madhu. (2018, December 5). Difference Between Rubber and Silicone. Compare the

Difference Between Similar Terms. https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-

between-rubber-and-vs-silicone/

The key difference between rubber and silicone is that the backbones of most of the rubber
forms contain carbon-carbon bonds while the backbone of silicone contains silicon and
oxygen.

Similarities of natural rubber and silicone

Both rubber and silicone are elastomers. They are polymeric materials that exhibit the
viscoelastic behaviour, which we generally call as elasticity. We can distinguish silicone from
rubbers by the atomic structure. In addition, silicones have more special properties than
normal rubbers. Rubbers are naturally occurring, or else we can synthesize them, but silicon
is only synthetic in nature. Depending on these, we can find the difference between silicone
and rubber.

What is Rubber?
Generally, we consider all the elastomers as rubbers in which dimensions undergo alterations
largely by stressing, and also they can go to the original dimensions after removing the stress.
These materials show glass transition temperature due to their amorphous structure. There are
many types of rubbers or elastomers like natural rubber, synthetic polyisoprene, styrene
butadiene rubber, nitrile rubber, polychloroprene, and silicone.

However, natural rubber is the rubber that comes to our mind when considering rubbers. We
get the natural rubber from the latex of rubber tree (Heveabrasiliensis). Also, cis-1, 4-
polyisoprene is the structure of natural rubber. Even though silicone rubbers contain silicon in
polymer chains instead of carbon, most of the rubbers contain polymer chains of carbon.

In addition to that, rubber is useful for many applications like cookware, electronics,
automotive applications etc., because of their elastic behaviour. As they are waterproof
materials, they are useful as sealants, gloves etc. Rubbers or elastomers are excellent
materials for insulating purposes.

What is Silicone?
Silicone is a form of synthetic rubber. We can synthesize it by modifying silicon.
Furthermore, this material consists of a backbone of silicon atoms with alternating oxygen
atoms. As silicone has high energy silicon-oxygen bonds, it is more resistant to heat than
other rubbers or elastomers.

Unlike in other elastomers, the inorganic backbone of silicone makes it highly resistant to
fungus and chemicals. In addition, silicone rubber is resistant to ozone and UV attacks
because the silicon-oxygen bond is less susceptible to these attacks than the carbon-carbon
bond of the backbone in other elastomers. Moreover, this material has a lower tensile strength
and lower tear strength than the organic rubbers. However, at high temperatures, it shows
excellent tensile and tears properties. This is because of the variation of properties in silicone
is less at high temperatures.

Silicone is more durable than other elastomers. These are few of the beneficial properties of
silicone. Regardless, the fatigue life of silicone rubbers is shorter than the organic rubbers. It
is one of the disadvantages of this rubber form. Also, its viscosity is high; therefore, it causes
manufacturing problems due to poor flow properties.

What is the Difference Between Rubber and Silicone?

Silicone is a form of synthetic rubber. However, the key difference between rubber and
silicone is that the backbone of silicone contains silicon and oxygen, while the backbones of
most of the rubber forms contain carbon-carbon bonds.

Moreover, concerning the properties, the difference between rubber and silicone is that the
normal rubber is usually less resistant to heat, chemical attacks, fungus attacks, UV and
Ozone attacks. But, silicone is more resistant to heat, chemical attacks, fungus attacks, UV
and Ozone attacks than normal rubber.

Furthermore, as another significant difference between rubber and silicone, organic rubbers
have poor tensile and tear properties at high temperatures while these properties are excellent
in silicone rubbers at the same temperature conditions. Therefore, silicone rubber offers
special properties, which organic rubbers do not possess.

Summary – Rubber vs Silicone

Silicone is a form of synthetic rubber. Therefore, it also is a type of elastomer as rubber. The
key difference between rubber and silicone is that the backbones of most of the rubber forms
contain carbon-carbon bonds while the backbone of silicone contains silicon and oxygen.