Preliminary study on structural integrity and properties of surface fluorinated silicone rubbers

Silicone rubber (SIR) has multiple formulations and three basic types of room temperature vulcanized, high temperature vulcanized, and liquid SIR. Whether or not a robust fluorinated surface layer can be formed on SIR is the prerequisite for the potential application of direct fluorination in the improvement in its surface properties. This report preliminarily demonstrates an influence of SIR formulation on the structural integrity of the fluorinated SIR surface layer, and shows the necessity or harmfulness of the presence of nanosilica fillers or micro alumina trihydrate to obtain a robust fluorinated surface layer. Further, this report investigates the properties of the robust fluorinated layers, and shows that the robust fluorinated layers have high hydrophobicity, an increased or decreased conductivity, and high resistance to surface discharge.