Four types of silica fillers (nonporous silica particles, mesoporous silica particles, silica gels with micropores, and fumed silica particles) have been used as inorganic filler materials for silicone rubber. To determine their effectiveness as filler materials, a systematic study on the thermal strength and transparency of the obtained silica/silicone composites was conducted. The mesoporous silica/silicone composite shows the lowest thermal expansion and higher transparency than the other composites. The thermal strength and transparency of silica gel/silicone composite is quite similar to those of nonporous silica/silicone composite. Fumed silica/silicone composite is highly transparent (indeed, its transparency is the same as pristine silicone), but the thermal strength is at the same level as nonporous silica/silicone composite. These results clarify that mesoporous silica particles are the most promising filler materials for silicone rubber.
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Suzuki et al. (2014) studied this question.
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