Choosing The Correct Silicone Sealant for Your Application
Silicone compounds are used to coat, seal, and encapsulate components, protecting electronics under even the most challenging conditions. Their unique molecular structure provides the rare combination of increased flexibility and high temperature resistance, allowing more versatility in the design, assembly process, and performance characteristics of modern electronics. What is the best choice for your application? The selection you make will directly impact the manufacturing of the product, how it performs, and its longevity.
Identifying Performance Expectations
The first step to finding the right material is understanding your options and how it can help achieve your objectives. Electronics have very specific operational needs, and your choice of a silicone sealant will depend largely on performance expectations.
Ask yourself questions like:
- Do you need to protect dense components or fine wires endangered by thermal cycling?
- Will your component be exposed to moisture or dust?
- Will your product need to withstand intense vibration or impact?
- When you know the answers to such questions, your silicone partner should work with you to drive the development process and ensure that the sealant you receive fits your application.
Most performance characteristics of silicone can be modified across a spectrum:
- Permanent adhesion to reworkable solutions
- Hardness that can be modified to meet your application needs, from extremely soft to incredibly durable
- Viscosity ranging from sprayable to flowable to thixotropic pastes
- Wide range of working and cure times to meet your processing needs
Silicone compounds are used to coat, seal, and encapsulate components, protecting electronics under even the most challenging conditions. Their unique molecular structure provides the rare combination of increased flexibility and high temperature resistance, allowing more versatility in the design, assembly process, and performance characteristics of modern electronics. What is the best choice for your application? The selection you make will directly impact the manufacturing of the product, how it performs, and its longevity.
It is essential to work with R&D engineers who can adjust the many diverse properties of silicone to provide a customized solution that fits your specific application. There is a trade-off with many of the following characteristics, so finding a partner who understands how to balance these factors will be key to your success.
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Source: Adhesives Magazine/Novaguard