The terms silicone and silicone rubber are often used in life and work, and are often confused. I will share the following with you here.

According to the name of some chemical books, "silica gel" should be the condensation product of silica, and the molecular formula is mSiO2•H2O. The "silica gel" is a highly active adsorption material, which is an amorphous substance, insoluble in water and any solvent, non-toxic, tasteless, chemically stable, and does not react with any substances except strong alkali and hydrofluoric acid. And we often say rhinoplasty, the silicone filled in breast augmentation is this kind of silicone.

But in the mold industry, the "silica gel" we mentioned is usually not the silica hydrated silica mentioned above. Silicone in the mold industry usually refers to a type of polysiloxane. Simply put, "silicon" in the mold industry is a kind of synthetic rubber. Because it contains silicon atoms, it is called silicone rubber, so it is referred to as "silicone" for short.

There are many kinds of "silica gel" in the mold industry with different uses. As for product performance, there is a big gap depending on the raw material, but in general this "silicone" (to be exact, silicone rubber) will show a trend of replacing rubber in the future.

When we mention "silicone" in many cases, it is not simply the condensate of silicon dioxide, nor the siliconized synthetic rubber in the mold industry. Instead, the above two types of products are called "silica gel". At this time, we divide "silica gel" into organic silica gel and inorganic silica gel. Inorganic silica gel is the first "silica gel" we mentioned - a hydrate of silica.

Silicon-containing synthetic rubber in the mold industry is called silicone because it contains hydrocarbon groups. When talking about "silicon rubber" in some places, it will be defined as "between organic matter and inorganic matter", but more manufacturers of silicone rubber still claim to be producing silicone.

From the above three situations, the concept of the word "silica gel" is very confusing, but unfortunately, so far, there is no expressly stipulated name by the state.

When we hear the word "silica gel", we must understand whether it is silica or silicon-containing synthetic rubber, or whether it is inorganic silica gel or organic silica gel.

When it comes to this, it is necessary to mention a few words related to the name of "silicone": silicone rubber, silicone, silicone.

The relationship between silicone rubber and silicone has been mentioned above. Silicone is different and contains silicone rubber. Silicone rubber is the organic "silica gel" in "silica gel". "Silicone" is the name of Hong Kong and Taiwan, and it is called "silica gel" in the mainland. Then according to the confusing name of "silicone" in the mainland, silicone is also a confusing term. Silicone is the transliteration of silicone, we usually say that he is "silica gel".