Silicones are a family of incredibly diverse substances and high-performance materials. The family includes fluids, reactive silanes, and silicone polymers used in a vast range of industrial and consumer products used in our everyday lives.
Silicones are found in all areas of our economy, including construction, manufacturing, automobile, health, personal care, electronics, transportation, and aerospace.
The reason silicones are so widely used is that they offer a multitude of benefits to the products they are used in. Silicones provide great flexibility, resistance to moisture, heat, cold, and even resistance to UV radiation. Silicones can come in many forms, including liquids, solids, oils, pastes, greases, and rubber. Find out more about Silicone moulding UK by visiting a site like www.meadex.co.uk/
Cosmetics and Personal Care Products
The reason for including silicones in personal care products is they are ideal for reducing white residue and stickiness in deodorants and antiperspirants. They also assist in products retaining their silky feel and colour, which is essential for shampoos, conditioners, and shower creams. They also provide good wetting and spreading qualities, making applying personal care products and cosmetics easier, such as sunscreens and lotions.
Electronics
Silicones are also found in keyboards, keypads, and rollers in printers. Due to silicones’ sturdy and resilient nature, they are used in manufacturing home entertainment systems, mobile technology, and computer components. LED lighting would not exist if not for silicones. Silicones have high stability in hot conditions and are used in thermodynamic capacities inside electrical transmission processes.
Aviation
As a substance, silicone can withstand great stress and temperature extremes so it’s ideal for the aviation industry. Silicones are found in the solid adhesives and sealants used in areas such as doors, window seals, wings, fuel tanks, landing gear, wiring, black boxes, and hydraulic switches.
Construction
Silicones are prevalent in the construction industry, most dramatically enabling the massive expanse of glass walls on skyscrapers, for example. In residential homes, you’ll find silicones in the sealants used around baths, showers, and sinks to prevent damage from moisture.
Coatings and Paint
Paint enhanced with silicone coats the exterior of homes, trains, and bridges, giving them protection from ice and extreme cold to avoid cracking. Oil rigs and roads are also sometimes treated with silicone to reduce the likelihood of corrosion due to salt spray from the ocean, oil, and acid rain.
Kitchenware
Non-stick kitchenware, such as baking and cookware, is treated with silicones, making them simple to clean and not absorb flavours or smells.