At MD&M West this week, Momentive Performance Materials Inc. (MPM), Waterford N.Y., is showcasing a fiber-reinforced liquid silicone rubber (LSR) for designers seeking to enhance wearable medical devices, as the demand for their demand increases. Additionally, MPM is exhibiting a variety of other liquid silicone and heat cure rubbers that can significantly increase design freedom for medical device and parts manufacturers, including its new anti-static silicone elastomers and UV-curing silicone elastomers.
Combining silicone elastomer flexibility with the high strength of textile fibers, MPM’s fiber-reinforced LSR can be a good solution to consider when elastomeric properties have to be combined with very high modulus at low elongations. The solution may be especially useful in applications where high torsional stiffness is required such as in devices with a wrist band configuration. The inherent properties of silicone elastomers can provide good wearability, comfort against the skin and resistance to skin oils. In addition, a variety of colors can be achieved with the use of pigments.
This advancement can also potentially serve as a mono-material concept, providing the design freedom and cost-efficient processability of liquid silicone rubber, while eliminating the need for a composite fabric layer. As such, fiber-reinforced LSR may be a candidate for applications such as membranes, flexible robotic “skeletons” that mimic the human body and numerous bio-mechanical applications.
Another area where MPM is removing limitations is with anti-static materials. Traditionally, carbon black fillers have been used to achieve anti-static properties in silicone rubbers, limiting the material color to black. MPM’s new anti-static silicone elastomers may be translucent or colored, and provide the excellent mechanical properties and thermal resistance of silicones.
The newly developed anti-static elastomers include high consistency elastomers (HCE) and anti-static LSRs, which may be considered for use in applications where dust pick-up reduction is critical, such as keyboard covers, elastomeric keypads and buttons, soft-touch features on devices, as well as in electronic applications where anti-static properties without an electrostatic charge are desired.
Also, MPM’s UV-curing LSR will be the subject of an impressive demonstration on an Engel injection molding machine at Engel booth #3814. Soap holders will be molded in a two-component process utilizing MPM’s UV-curing LSR, UV LSR 2030, co-molded with polypropylene resin. With MPM’s technology, UV LSR now can be combined with more affordable, lower melting point resins, such as PP or PMMA, enabling new approaches for hard-soft combinations with silicone rubber in medical applications.
More information:
Momentive Performance Materials Inc.
