The insulator protective cover, known as "Little Red Riding Hood", is made of silicone rubber
Recently, silicone rubber has been used as an insulating cover on overhead power lines, which has effectively improved the insulation level and safety of transmission lines and is affectionately called "Little Red Riding Hood" by everyone. In fact, silicone rubber is a kind of organosilicon material. Organosilicon materials have shown great power in many fields. Let us get to know them today!
What is organosilicon material?
Organosilicon materials, also known as organosilicon compounds, refer to compounds containing silicon-carbon bonds (Si-C) and at least one organic group directly connected to silicon atoms. It is customary to regard those compounds that connect organic groups to silicon atoms through oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, etc. as organosilicon compounds.
Organosilicon compounds have not been found in nature so far. Chemists combine silicon in quartz sand with organic macromolecules to create a new "hybrid" material, which people call "organosilicon". There are many types of organosilicon compounds, including polysiloxanes, polysilanes, polycarbosilanes, polynitrogen silanes, etc. Organic polysiloxane is the most important category, accounting for more than 90% of the total amount of organic silicon materials. Today, China's polysiloxane production capacity has reached 67% of the global production ratio, and it has become the world's largest producer, consumer and net exporter of organic silicon raw materials.
At present, there are more than 2,000 kinds of organic silicon products, and more than 1,000 kinds of commonly used ones include silicone oil, silicone rubber, silicone resin, etc. The following is a detailed introduction to the three most commonly used organic polysiloxane products.
1. Silicone oil
Linear polysiloxane products that remain in liquid state at room temperature. Generally divided into two categories: methyl silicone oil and modified silicone oil.
The insulating properties of silicone oil make it an important material in the electrical industry, used to manufacture insulating oil, cable oil, transformer oil, etc.; it can be used as a processing aid for rubber and plastics to improve their processing performance and product quality; as an important ingredient in cosmetics, it has good lubricity and skin permeability; due to the excellent thermal stability of silicone oil, the laboratory uses dimethyl silicone oil as the oil for the oil bath pot.
2. Silicone rubber
A synthetic elastomer produced by mixing linear polysiloxane with reinforcing fillers and vulcanizing under heating and pressure. Silicone rubber itself is transparent, and silicone rubber products of different colors can be obtained by surface coloring and mixing coloring.
Automotive industry: automotive ignition wires, spark plug protective covers, heating and radiator hoses, and battery connectors, etc.
Electronic and electrical industries: high-voltage protective covers, cable equipment, and insulators made of silicone rubber, etc.
Aerospace: aircraft sealed switches and oxygen masks, etc., burn-resistant silicone rubber can also be used to make rocket fuel valves and power source cables, etc.
Medical field: soundproof earplugs, contact lenses, artificial blood vessels and organs, etc.
3. Silicone resin
A thermosetting plastic containing highly cross-linked network structured polysiloxane. It can be used to prepare anti-corrosion, high temperature resistant and hydrophobic coatings, such as electronic packaging, exterior wall coatings, etc.; due to its insulation, it can be used in wires, motors, transformers, etc.; used to prepare silicone plastics, semiconductor packaging plastics and foam plastics, and is often used in packaging, pipes, and other fields.