Formulating And Use Tips For Silicone Emulsionsiameter Indonesia : Silicone Oil Silicone Fluid Silicone Emulsion

Use And Handling Tips

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• Microbial contamination - emulsions
• Applying release agents to new molds
• Dilution levels for release agents
• Release agents for high-temperature applications
• Rust inhibitors for diluted release agent emulsions
• Applying aminosilicone softeners to fabric

Microbial contamination – emulsions

Silicone emulsions can be contaminated by:

• Food – any nitrogen or carbon source
• Temperature – between 10 and 50˚C (50 and 122˚F)

These conditions are present in many industrial environments. Consequently, it is best to use a diluted emulsion as soon as possible.

Applying release agents to new molds

Break in a new mold by applying a coat of silicone release agent emulsion as supplied and running one or two empty heat cycles.

Dilution levels for release agents

Dilution ratios vary considerably. Refer to the product technical data sheet for the specific product you’re using.

Typically, it is suggested to dilute to 2 to 5% silicone solids as a starting point.
Experiment in small scale to find the adequate dilution that will achieve the ease of release and number of releases desired.

Release agents for high-temperature applications

Emulsions of higher-molecular-weight polydimethylsiloxanes are preferred for high-temperature release applications. Emulsions made from alkylaryl siloxane copolymers (available from Dow Corning under the Dow Corning® brand name) also show excellent thermal stability.

Rust inhibitors for diluted release agent emulsions

Polydimethylsiloxane emulsions used in industrial release and printing web release applications often contain sodium benzoate as a rust inhibitor to help prevent corrosion on metals (e.g. steel, zinc, copper, copper alloys, aluminum and aluminum alloys).

Sodium benzoate can be added to a level of 0.1% weight in the diluted emulsion. A suitable pH range for effective inhibition is about 6 to 12.

Applying aminosilicone softeners to fabric

Silicone softeners are generally applied to fabric by padding or exhaustion.

Padding involves physically penetrating the textile substrate with the aminosilicone emulsion using rollers connected to the emulsion bath. The amount of silicone applied to the fabric is determined by the water pickup of the fabric and the concentration of the emulsion. The more water the fabric absorbs, the less concentrated the emulsion has to be.

Exhaustion is a “nonforced” application. It is mainly driven by the affinity of the aminofunctional polymer to the respective fibers. The extent to which the aminosilicone will deposit onto the fibers will vary depending on the type of fiber. But in general, for natural fibers like cotton, which have a slight negative charge at the surface, cationic emulsified aminosilicones show good exhaustibility.