Silicone O-rings feature excellent resistance to both high and low temperatures, maintaining good service elasticity within a temperature range of -70℃ to 260℃. They also boast advantages such as ozone resistance and weather aging resistance.

Silicone O-rings are non-toxic and thus suitable for use as sealing components in thermal insulation and insulation products. Additionally, they offer various excellent properties such as waterproofing, flame retardancy, high-temperature resistance, conductivity, wear resistance, and oil resistance.

However, silicone O-rings do have a lifespan. Over time, they will gradually age and eventually become unusable. But why do they age? Do you know how silicone O-rings age?

1. The Role of Heat: Raising temperature can cause thermal cracking or thermal crosslinking in silicone rubber products. However, the fundamental role of heat is to activate. It increases the rate of oxygen diffusion and activates oxidation reactions, thereby accelerating the rate of rubber oxidation. This is a common aging phenomenon known as thermal oxidation aging.

2. The Role of Oxygen: Oxygen reacts with rubber molecules through a free radical chain reaction, causing the molecular chains to break or overcrosslink, which alters the performance of silicone rubber products; oxidation is one of the primary reasons for rubber aging.

3. The Reason for Light: The shorter the light wave, the greater the energy. The energy-intensive ultraviolet light is what causes destruction to rubber. Besides directly causing the breaking and cross-linking of rubber molecular chains, ultraviolet light also generates free radicals in rubber as it absorbs light energy, triggering and accelerating the oxidation chain reaction process.

4. The Role of Ozone: Ozone has a much higher chemical reactivity and is more destructive. It also causes molecular chains to break, but its effect on rubber varies depending on whether the rubber deforms. When acting on deformed rubber, cracks appear perpendicular to the direction of the stress, known as ozone cracking.

5. The Role of Moisture: Silicon products are prone to damage when exposed to damp air, rain, or immersion in water, as the water-soluble substances in rubber and the like, such as water-soluble groups, are extracted, dissolved, hydrolyzed, or absorbed. Particularly under the alternating action of water immersion and atmospheric exposure, this accelerates the degradation of rubber.