Liquid Silicone Rubber for LED Lighting

Dezember 17, 2015

Momentive Silopren* LSR 7000 Series

Enabling a Brighter Future

Light emitting diodes (LEDs) have spurred a revolution in lighting. This disruptive technology continues to displace traditional incandescent lighting with lamps and fixtures that use far less energy and last much longer. As they’ve grown in popularity, LEDs have also enabled a revolution in materials science – one led by Momentive with a disruptive technology of its own.

Momentive’s innovative ultraclear liquid silicone rubber (LSR) technology helps LED manufacturers to replace glass and thermoplastics with a lightweight material that offers excellent optical clarity, durability and design freedom. Our Ultra Clear Silopren* LSR 7000 series – the first ultra-clear LSR for secondary optics in LED systems – is enabling lighting engineers to create new designs and manufacturing methods that were inconceivable with other materials. As a result, the Silopren LSR 7000 series is spurring a revolution of its own for LED applications.

Enabling Innovative Applications 

Today’s high-power LEDs must withstand harsh UV and blue light radiation in combination with long-term temperatures topping 150°C. Traditionally, glass offered the best heat and ultraviolet (UV) resistance, as well as optical clarity, for LED lenses. However, the higher weight and limited design flexibility of glass have made thermoplastics a much more common material of choice. Still, thermoplastics have their deficiencies, including a tendency to yellow and break down over time, creating haze and cracks on lenses that limit light transmission.  

Recognizing the need for a better material, Momentive’s engineers developed the Silopren LSR 7000 series. This hot-vulcanizing thermosetting silicone elastomer gives LED lenses and light guides the optical clarity of glass with an even lower weight than plastics. The Silopren LSR 7000 series also offers better transmission retention, haze and dispersion properties than plastics, as well as enhanced long-term heat and UV resistance. It is available in a broad hardness range between very soft (5 Shore A) and hard (90 Shore A).  

Since its introduction, engineers have been using the Silopren LSR 7000 series as a technology enabler for a wide array of existing and potential applications, including:  

• Optical lenses that benefit from minimal to no stress even in complex and microstructure designs
• Light guides that offer flexibility and provide uniform and efficient light distribution over a broad range of wavelengths
• Flash lenses for mobile phone cameras that have high heat resistance and excellent durability
• Secondary lenses for outdoor lighting fixtures that offer high temperature and UV light stability

Enhancing Design Freedom

Beyond the beneficial performance characteristics of the Silopren LSR 7000 series, Momentive’s engineers also paid close attention to the material’s processibility. They wanted to be sure our products would enable true design freedom for our customers.  

For injection and compression molding operations, our Silopren LSR 7000 series can fill the smallest areas and gaps of the molding cavity. This allows molders to shape highly precise surface structures for complex parts. During de-molding, the material’s release properties allow even high-precision microstructures to easily free from molds.  

The Silopren LSR 7000 series can enable more cost-efficient injection molding by shortening cycle times with its fast curing properties. The material’s low viscosity also helps to conserve mold and machinery equipment, enable overmolding of mechanically sensitive inserts and streamline the filling of highly complex parts.      

Pioneering LSR Technology 

A pioneer of LSR technology, Momentive offers a broad portfolio of innovative silicone elastomers that deliver outstanding properties to a wide range of industries, including healthcare, electronics, personal care and automotive. With our Silopren LSR 7000 series, we’re advancing the LED lighting revolution with a clearer, more durable material that’s helping our customers make their most innovative ideas possible.

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Brochure: Ultra Clear Liquid Silicone Rubber Silopren* LSR 7000 Series

*Silopren is a trademark of Momentive Performance Materials Inc.