Silicone Optical Member Siloxane Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Optical members made from silicone resin or silicone rubber often contain high levels of low-molecular-weight siloxanes, which volatilize and cause contact faults or contamination on electronic circuits and other surfaces, leading to inadequate heat resistance and shape stability.
Innovation Solution
A method to produce optical members with reduced low-molecular-weight siloxane content by implementing a two-step process: heat treatment to remove siloxanes D3-D10 and immersion in an organic solvent to remove siloxanes D11-D20, ensuring a total content of 100 ppm or less, thereby preventing adhesion and contamination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If silicone resin or silicone rubber is used as raw material for optical members, then heat resistance and optical characteristics are improved, but low-molecular-weight siloxanes volatilize and cause contact faults or contamination on electronic circuits and other surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing heat treatment and organic solvent immersion on the silicone resin or silicone rubber before molding into optical members. This pre-removal of low-molecular-weight siloxanes (D3-D20) prevents subsequent volatilization and contamination during the optical member's service life, thereby resolving the contradiction between maintaining heat resistance and eliminating harmful volatilization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the harmful low-molecular-weight siloxanes (D3-D20) from the silicone resin or silicone rubber through heat treatment and organic solvent immersion. This extraction process removes the problematic components while retaining the beneficial properties of the base material, such as heat resistance and optical characteristics, thus resolving the contradiction between heat resistance and contamination.
2Reliability
If low-molecular-weight siloxanes are removed from silicone resin or silicone rubber, then contact faults and contamination are prevented, but additional processing steps and time are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs siloxane removal as a preliminary action before molding, which allows for more efficient and thorough removal compared to post-molding treatment. By conducting heat treatment and organic solvent immersion beforehand, the process achieves complete siloxane removal while minimizing total processing time, as the material is more accessible and reactive in its uncured state.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple functions into the preliminary treatment step: heat treatment removes volatile siloxanes, organic solvent immersion extracts non-volatile siloxanes, and both processes prepare the material for molding. This combination of operations in a pre-molding stage achieves comprehensive siloxane removal (D3-D20) more efficiently than separate post-molding treatments would require.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional single-step heat treatment is used to remove low-molecular-weight siloxanes, then processing is simple, but siloxanes D11-D20 with larger molecular weight are insufficiently removed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the siloxane removal process into two distinct stages: heat treatment for removing volatile siloxanes (including D3-D10), and organic solvent immersion for extracting non-volatile siloxanes (including D11-D20). This segmentation allows each method to target specific molecular weight ranges effectively, achieving comprehensive removal that a single method cannot accomplish alone.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical-chemical parameters of the treatment process by using two different mechanisms: thermal energy (heat treatment) for volatile components and chemical solvation (organic solvent immersion) for non-volatile components. This parameter change approach enables effective removal of siloxanes across the entire D3-D20 range, particularly addressing the difficulty of removing higher molecular weight siloxanes like D11-D20 that resist single-method removal.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method effectively reduces the risk of contact faults and contamination, enhances heat resistance, and allows for the production of optical members with precise optical designs and complex shapes, while maintaining high transparency and durability.
Implementation Method 1
low-molecular-weight siloxanes contained therein volatilize when heated
Implementation Method 2
immersion in an organic solvent to remove siloxanes D11-D20
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides: a highly transparent optical member which is formed from a silicone resin or a silicone rubber, and which has less mass change and excellent heat resistance without causing contact faults, or deterioration or contamination of the surface of other members due to adhesion to an electronic circuit or the surfaces of other members; and a production method for producing said optical member. According to the production method, the content of low-molecular-weight siloxanes D3-D20 in a optical member is reduced to an infinitesimal amount with use of a plurality of different low-molecular-weight siloxane removal steps.