Effects of added silicone oils on the surface characteristics of silicone rubber

This paper reports on the effects of silicone fluids, used as processing agents, on the loss and recovery of hydrophobicity. The recovery of hydrophobicity was evaluated by the measuring the contact angle, the surface electrical resistance and the leakage current on a silicone rubber (SIR) surface. Two types of silicone fluids (A and B) having different chemical structures were selected from consideration of hydrophobicity and processability. SIR specimens were exposed to corona discharges in air and were analyzed using contact angle and surface resistance measurements. It was observed that the contact angle and the surface resistance increased gradually with increasing test time. The recovery of the hydrophobicity expressed as the contact angle and the surface resistance increased with increasing ratio of fluids A/B. The tracking and erosion resistances of SIR were investigated using the rotating wheel dip test. The leakage current of SIR decreased with increasing ratio of fluids A/B.