What is platinum silicone and how safe it is?

The rise of environmental awareness has led many manufacturers to choose silicone products that are more environmentally friendly. Silicone rubber can be seen from mobile phone protective covers to baby tableware. The most important thing in silicone products is the safety of use. Common silicones rubber are divided into: ordinary silicone rubber, food-grade, and medical-grade silicone rubber. What we are discussing today is the "platinum silicone" that is widely used in the medical and food fields.

What is platinum silicone?

The name platinum silicone may be mistaken by people as silicone rubber contains metal components, but platinum silicone is just a name, and the material itself does not contain metal. Platinum is in the name because the production method is processed by a two-component molding vulcanizes, and using platinum as a catalyst, platinum can not only accelerate the synthesis of silicone but also bring better stability to the product.

Three advantages of platinum silicone

Medical and food-grade products are often made of platinum silicone material. Below we have sorted out three major advantages, so that you can better understand why platinum silicone is more suitable for food-grade products than ordinary silicone.

Wider temperature range

Most of the heat resistance data we see in silicone kitchenware refers to the temperature range that platinum silicone can withstand, about -40°C to 230°C, and the maximum heat resistance can reach 260°C. Let's take a common example: in the freezer, many housewives will use plastic boxes to store food, but when these foods are taken out to defrost or microwave, they are often packed into another container to prevent the container from The rapid thermal expansion and contraction will cause damage; and the high temperature resistant platinum silicone container does not have this problem, and can be directly microwaved after being taken out of the freezer. Due to the high stability of platinum, no harmful chemicals are released during the heating process, so it can be used more safely.

Good breathability, less odor

Regardless of whether it is made of ordinary silicone or plastic, the food container is most afraid of the material that will absorb the smell, which will easily cause the food to be contaminated with other odors during storage, which will affect the appearance of use. Platinum silicone has good air permeability and reduces taste residue, so it is more suitable for food use.

More washable and durable

Used tableware needs to be cleaned. We most often use dishwashing liquid to clean them. These chemicals are easy to corrode plastic tableware and shorten the service life. The material of platinum silicone is not easy to be corroded and damaged by cleaning agents due to its high inertness in chemical properties. It will be more washable and durable than other materials.

Platinum silicone VS silicone rubber

Before understanding whether to use platinum silicone or general silicone rubber, we can first understand the difference in composition between the two. We all know that silicone product are all composed of silicon dioxide, but due to the difference in material density, that distinguishes platinum silicone and general silicone rubber.

Platinum silicone

Platinum silicone is obtained by secondary curing of silicon dioxide through high temperature platinum. The material is more flexible than ordinary silicone rubber, and it can withstand rapid changes in temperature. It is also very stable in the face of changes in chemical properties, so it can directly contact food and human body. Generally, platinum silicone is more suitable for food and medical purposes.

<Extension Reading：How to distinguish food-grade silicone and regular silicone?>

Silicone Rubber

Generally, silicone rubber is made of silicon dioxide, which is chemically stable, non-toxic and odorless. Except for strong alkali and hydrofluoric acid, it generally does not react with other substances. Although some silicone materials can be used in food, the stability is not as stable and durable as platinum silicone, and it is often used in protective covers, toys, sealing strips and other products.
<Extension Reading：What You Should Know About Silicone Rubber>

Application of Platinum Silicone

From the above introduction, we know that platinum silicone is more stable than other silicone materials, and because of this, it is widely used in medical, food, infant products, and these three types of fields that have a high demand for safety and non-toxicity , now let's take a look at the contribution of platinum silicone in these three fields!

Medical fields

Platinum silicone can be widely used in the medical field, such as biotechnology applications including silicone respiratory masks, silicone infusion tubes, orthodontic silicone respiratory masks, silicone intravenous lines (IV line), orthodontic braces, etc.; also because of the stability of the material, non-toxic characteristics, so it can be used in artificial prostheses and implants, such as breast augmentation, nasal splints and other artificial organs that we are very familiar with.
<Extension Reading：Medical Grade Silicone: How to define it?>

Food contact fields

In the past, many food safety incidents and toxic plastic incidents have made consumers pay attention to the safety of tableware. For example, the tableware used for food has also been changed from plastic to platinum silicone without plasticizer and bisphenol A; due to the high-temperature resistance. Because of its unique properties, it is also often used in cake-baking molds, spatulas, etc. Although platinum silicone is safe and non-toxic, it is still recommended to choose food-grade materials that have passed FDA certification to be more secure!

Baby products

Many manufacturers use low-cost plastics to make baby products, such as pacifiers, suckers for feeding bottles, etc., but cheap plastics may contain harmful substances (plasticizers and bisphenol A). Such products are placed in the mouths of infants and young children. Most parents are concerned about the impact on the health of infants and young children. With the rise of consumer awareness, more and more manufacturers are gradually using platinum silicone material, which is not harmful to the human body, so that consumers can buy with more peace of mind.

Conclusion

With the rise of our awareness of health and environmental protection, and our emphasis on food safety, more and more large factories have adopted safe and non-toxic platinum silicone so that consumers can have a more secure choice; although platinum silicone can be used in In the fields of food, medical care, and infants and young children that have higher requirements for safety, it is still necessary to cooperate with certified manufacturers. GSUN has more than 30 years of experience, our production raw materials have passed the testing standards of SGS, RoHS, REACH, FDA, and biocompatibility (cytotoxicity, sensitization, and irritation tests.) and other related food medical certification testing standards, if you have any requirements for raw materials, please contact us anytime.