Silicone is a highly versatile elastomer with a wide range of applications. It can replace regular plastics and various other synthetic compounds and perform significantly better in many aspects. The only downside is the price. However flexible, elastic Silicone has fairly similar physical properties as regular Rubber, so why does it cost so much more?
You can make a silicone material have different physical traits by introducing new chemicals in its structure. So it’s way ahead of natural Rubber in terms of versatility. Other qualities also set it apart from natural Rubber, contributing to the increased price range. In this article, we’ll discuss those qualities and why Silicone is more expensive than Rubber.
Silicone is a silicon-based material typically made by mixing silicon and Oxygen. The exact nature of a particular Silicone type will vary based on the size of the molecules and how they are arranged. It can be both solid and liquid.
Silicon is a natural chemical. e.g. You can find that in nature. But Silicone is a synthetic material, so you’ll only ever get that from a lab. Natural Rubber is a different story entirely. Originally, natural Rubber came from latex from rubber trees. But these days, manufacturers vulcanize the natural Rubber to improve its quality. It’s called sulfur vulcanization.
Much like Silicone, you can control the hardness, elasticity, and durability of natural Rubber through sulfur vulcanization. Most “rubber” products found in the market these days have a wide range of physical enhancements. They mostly use various polymeric sulfur for that process. Here’s a video that clearly illustrates the rubber production process.
On average, Silicone costs roughly twice as much as Rubber of a similar quality. While Silicone outperforms regular Rubber in almost all aspects, the price tag doesn’t make sense to most people, considering that raw materials for manufacturing silicone are relatively abundant. There are two main issues:
The issue is actually the production process. We do not have the infrastructure to efficiently make Silicone. The base material loss rate during production is enormous, and there’s also the mold creation expense.
Since Silicone is a synthetic material, we must craft everything from scratch. Naturally, that introduces a lot of extra expenses.
The other aspect is the supply and demand. Silicone is a premium-quality alternative to natural Rubber and is in high demand for many industries.
While the production facilities can pump out Silicone quickly, the supply isn’t enough to deal with the demand. Even with the larger price tag, one can argue it’s economical. While silicone costs twice as much, they last at least thrice as long.
Silicone rubber and natural Rubber both fill a similar niche in consumer goods but have a stark performance disparity. We won’t pretend that all Silicone and Rubber have the same specs, but the general quality-to-performance ratio between the two is pretty constant.
High-quality reinforced Rubber will outperform cheap Silicone in many cases. While high-quality Silicone will beat Rubber in the same fashion. Your usage case determines how well they perform. Here are some general comparisons between the two material types:
Many applications of Silicone and rubber products have some form of relationship with thermal components. Things like gaskets, insulator pads, and such usually require a lot of heat resistance. Silicone is a clear winner in this regard.
Because of its chemical structure, Silicone is often better at dealing with heat than the average reinforced Rubber. It has higher thermal tolerance and thermal stability, which lets it operate normally under high heat. Silicone has better heat resistance than most elastomers you’ll commonly see on the market.
Depending on the curing process, the overall durability of Silicone and Rubber can vary. Silicone of the same quality will last at least three or four times as long as natural Rubber. It can function in extreme environments while still maintaining all its faculties.
Silicone is also very resistant to erosion. It doesn’t react to Oxygen and nitrogen in the air without exposure to extreme temperatures. So it has a much longer life cycle than natural Rubber.
Elasticity is the only aspect where natural Rubber and reinforced Rubber are slightly better than Silicone. Natural Rubber can stretch longer than Silicone while still snapping back to shape.
But this quality isn’t helpful since heavy-duty Rubber and Silicone applications usually don’t require stretchiness. Durability and various resistances are more critical.
Most Silicone is chemically inert, so they do not react to various natural and synthetic elements. They have excellent hydro resistance. You can use them as gaskets for cookware and other things. But regular Silicone does not fare too well against fossil fuel. Gasoline can erode most Silicone.
Rubber has worse specs across the board. So, while you can technically replace Silicone with Rubber, it will not improve performance. In fact, that’s a blatant downgrade.
That said, you can damage Silicone with strong acids like sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, etc., but there are unique silicone compounds that can resist oil erosion. Here’s a video on that.
Lastly, Silicone is a very useful material for insulation because it has fungus-inhibitor properties and thermal resistance. Silicone is an inorganic polymer, so fungi can’t break it down to create nutrients. Without nutrients, nothing can grow.
Natural Rubber does not share Silicone’s fungus resistance. Most of the time, you’ll need to reinforce the Rubber with some form of synthetic fungus inhibitor to achieve the effect.
You can now see why Silicone is more expensive than Rubber. It’s a better material overall in terms of longevity and performance under heavy load. The production process is more complicated and requires more material.
Despite the cost, the better durability makes it worthwhile, so it’s still a high-demand material for various industries. If you want more information, feel free to contact us.
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