1. The difference between silicone vs TPE in feel
Silicone generally feels a little harder, but TPE will be very soft. Of course, silicone can also be made quite soft, but the cost will increase a lot.
So at present, it can be pinched, but it will be harder than TPE.
2. the difference between silicone vs TPE in texture
The performance of silicone is better than TPE because the material is slightly harder, silicone will be better; some artificial handprints and details can only be expressed by silicone, but TPE does not well.
3. the difference between silicone vs TPE in tensile strength
According to different formulas, silicone can be stretched 3 to 5 times. The TPE can be stretched 6 to 8 times. So TPE has better pulling force and more extreme moves.
4. the weight difference between silicone vs TPE
The same volume of silicone will be heavier than TPE. The specific weight depends on the manufacturer’s craftsmanship and liner level.
5. the difference in aging between silicone vs TPE
Silicone is resistant to high temperature, low temperature, acid and alkali, except for highly corrosive items, silicone can hardly react with any substance. TPE is not resistant to high temperature and anti-aging is not as good as silicone products.
6. the difference in odor between silicone vs TPE
Silicone has absolutely no odor, TPE will more or less smell of gum or added fragrance. If it smells very fragrant, it is recommended not to start, because there are cases of reaction to fragrance allergy.
7. The difference in composition between silicone vs TPE
7.1 Silicone is divided into inorganic silicon and organic silicone compound.
Inorganic silicone is a highly active adsorption material, which is usually prepared by reacting sodium silicate with sulfuric acid and undergoing a series of post-treatment processes such as aging and acid foaming.
Silicone is an amorphous substance, and its chemical formula is mSiO2. nH2O. It is insoluble in water and any solvents, non-toxic, tasteless, chemically stable, and does not react with any substances except strong alkalis and hydrofluoric acid.
Organic silicone is an organosilicon compound, which refers to a compound that contains Si-C bonds and at least one organic group is directly connected to the silicon atom.
It is customary to use oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, etc. to make the organic group and silicon Compounds with connected atoms are also regarded as organosilicon compounds.
Silicones are mainly divided into three categories: silicone rubber, silicone resin, and silicone oil.
7.2 There are many types of TPE, usually based on styrene elastomer modification
The usual TPE refers to the blended modified material TPES based on styrene-based thermoplastic elastomer SBC.
In fact, there are many types of TPE (including TPES, TPV, TPU, TPEE, TPO, etc.). The TPE mentioned in this article mainly refers to the TPES elastomer based on SBC modification.
8. The difference in appearance between silicone vs TPE
8.1 The chemical formula of inorganic silica gel is xSio2·yH2O. Transparent or milky white granular or bead-like solid.
There are many different types of silicone, including silicone oil, silicone rubber, and silicone resin. Therefore, the appearance is diverse, with liquid, solid lumps or granules.
8.2 TPE is a compound material and has no fixed composition. But the appearance is generally transparent or white particles.
9. Difference in performance between silicone vs TPE
9.1 Heat resistance
TPE is usually heat resistant to 80~100℃, and silica gel is usually resistant to high temperature of 100~150℃.
9.2 Resilience, permanent deformation
TPE has a physical cross-linked structure. No matter how good the physical properties are, TPE has a certain permanent deformation.
Silicone is usually cross-linked by adding a coupling agent. Both solid silicone and liquid silicone are chemically cross-linked and have good resistance to permanent deformation. In other words, silicone has more elasticity and resistance to deformation than TPE.
9.3 Food grade characteristics
For food-grade materials, different countries and regions have different specific test methods. But the current basic understanding is as follows:
The composition of silicone is relatively single, and most silica gels have passed the residual test of oily solvents (such as olive oil, n-hexane, etc.), and comply with the US food grade standard value FDA 21CFR 177.2600 and the German food contact material standard LFGB.
TPE is a compounding system with diversified components. TPE base resin and softening oil may contain residual organic small molecules, which are easy to dissolve in oily liquids.
At present, except for a few specific material formulations that can comply with 21CFR 177.2600 and LFGB, most TPEs, especially low-hardness TPEs, fail to pass the two food-grade tests.
10. Molding equipment between silicone vs TPE
10.1 Silicone is thermosetting. Most of the liquid silicone LSR can be molded by a hydraulic press, and some liquid silicone LSR can be molded by an injection molding machine.
10.2 TPE is thermoplastic, and most of them are molded by an injection molding machine or extruded by the extruder.
11. Scrap and scrap recycling between silicone vs TPE
11.1 TPE scraps can be 100% recycled.
11.2 Waste silica gel is difficult to recycle.
12. Overmolding between silicone vs TPE
12.1 TPE and most hard plastics such as PP, ABS, PC, PA, PS, PE, SAN, etc. can be well overmolded and bonded together without the use of glue.
12.2 The overmolding of silica gel and hard plastic is usually pre-applied with glue and then injection-molded and bonded. However, it is said that there are currently modified silica gels in foreign countries, which can be directly coated and bonded without applying glue first.
13. Cost comparison between silicone vs TPE
13.1 The price of low-end solid silica gel is equivalent to that of low-end TPE, about 20,000 yuan/ton or less.
13.2 The price of mid-to-high-end (liquid) silicone rubber is close to that of high-end TPE, about 30,000 to 50,000 yuan/ton.
However, most applications of TPE are in the low-end market, while mid-to-high-end silicone accounts for the mainstream of the market. Therefore, in general, the price of TPE is still cheaper than that of silicone. If production efficiency and material reuse are considered, the advantages of TPE will be more obvious.
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