PLAST ’09: WACKER Presents Low-Friction Silicone Rubber for Medical Applications

PLAST’09 will see the European launch of WACKER’s new silicone product range for medical applications. Marketed under the SILPURAN® trade name, these ultra-pure silicone products have a property profile geared to medical–sector needs such as biocompatibility. Another WACKER booth highlight will be the production of moldings with SILPURAN® 6600, WACKER’s innovative liquid silicone rubber. The PLAST’09 international plastics tradeshow takes place from March 24–28, 2009 in Milan, Italy.
SILPURAN® 6600 is a liquid silicone rubber which, when cured, exhibits an extremely low coefficient of friction even though it does not contain any exudable liquids or oils. The low surface friction facilitates the processor’s job of assembling complex medical equipment. At PLAST ’09, tradeshow visitors can witness the advantages of this innovative material: together with machine manufacturer ENGEL Austria GmbH and moldmaker TOMAYER Enrico s.r.l., the WACKER team will produce injection-molded sealing membranes at the booth.
WACKER takes special measures to ensure that its SILPURAN® silicones meet the medical sector’s stringent and continuously increasing requirements. For instance, all SILPURAN® solid silicone rubber grades are visually inspected and antistatically packaged in a cleanroom. Similar measures are taken for other SILPURAN® products, such as liquid and room-temperature-curing silicone rubber grades, to ensure high safety standards for processors.
SILPURAN® silicones do not contain organic plasticizers. They also withstand radiation and are easy to sterilize, for example with hot steam (autoclave). What’s more, all SILPURAN® products have been tested to meet various ISO 10993 standards and USP (United States Pharmacopeia) Class VI criteria.