At COMPAMED, the medical technology trade show, Munich-based WACKER Chemicals Group showcased silicone adhesive gels and liquid silicone rubbers for medical applications. In terms of viscous gels, the focus is on SILPURAN® 2114 and SILPURAN® 2122. They allow reliable and skin-friendly fixation of wound dressings and treatment devices. Another product highlight is ELASTOSIL® LR 5040. This ultra-pure liquid silicone rubber can achieve high strength without the usual heat treatment, making its processing efficient and economical. COMPAMED 2021 will be held in Dusseldorf, Germany from November 15th to 18th.

SILPURAN® silicone adhesives have been used as adhesive gels in professional wound dressings for many years. They adhere gently and firmly to the skin, making dressing changes painless and non-invasive. This promotes healing while allowing gentle treatment of chronic and large wounds.

On COMPAMED 2021, the spotlights are SILPURAN® 2114 and SILPURAN® 2122. Because of the strong adhesion of these silicone gels, they can be used for professional wound treatment and fixing plasters for long-term placement of dressings and medical equipment.

SILPURAN® 2114 has an adhesive strength of 3.5 Newtons per inch, so it is the first choice for plasters and wound dressings. SILPURAN® 2122 has stronger adhesion: The silicone gel has an adhesion of 5.5 Newtons per inch and can also be used as a fixation aid in wearable devices and other medical applications. With SILPURAN® 2122, the bottom plate of a colostomy bag, a wearable sensor or a dosage device for dispensing medicine can be gently and reliably fixed to the skin.

SILPURAN® 2114 and SILPURAN® 2122 are transparent and can be cured to form a soft, highly flexible material with a gel consistency. The silicone gel itself is waterproof, but it is breathable due to its permeability to water vapor and gas, which significantly optimizes wound healing. The product does not contain plasticizers and stabilizers. They are chemically stable, resistant to aging, and can be easily disinfected with ethylene oxide.

Due to its strong adhesive properties, the gel is very effective in application. In most cases, only a small amount of coating is needed to reliably position the wound dressing or plaster. In addition, fixing aids coated with SILPURAN® 2114 and SILPURAN® 2122 can also be easily peeled off and reapplied. Even after correction, the fixing plaster that is not properly bonded can still adhere to the skin reliably.

Wound dressings and fixation aids are usually equipped with release liners. They protect the adhesive layer from contamination and damage, and are removed during use. However, high-strength adhesives may cause problems, such as damage to the adhesive film when the liner is peeled off.

To ensure safe removal, WACKER applied SILPURAN® 2114 and SILPURAN® 2122 to several linings produced by the American manufacturer Loparex and checked their release properties. Tests have shown that SILPURAN® 2114 can be easily used with selected polyolefin linings, while SILPURAN® 2122 performs best with fluorinated substrates. In all cases, the peel force is less than 0.5 N/in, which ensures reliable and complete removal of the lining. The long-term measurement carried out by WACKER also illustrates the problem: despite several months of storage, no increase in the release force value was measured. Therefore, wound dressings and fixation aids coated with SILPURAN® 2114 and SILPURAN® 2122 have a longer shelf life.

WACKER also demonstrated the ELASTOSIL® LR 5040 product line on COMPAMED. This liquid silicone rubber (LSR) complies with strict regulatory specifications and is suitable for sensitive applications in the medical and food contact fields. Even without thermal post-curing, cured rubber products made of ELASTOSIL® LR 5040 have excellent mechanical properties and contain only very small amounts of volatile and extractable substances. In many cases, this allows the manufacturer to eliminate post-curing during the production process.

ELASTOSIL® LR 5040 is cured into a translucent elastomer with a volatile content of less than 0.5% by weight, and no heat treatment is required. This is determined by internal measurements using two millimeter-thick LSR plates heated to 200°C for four hours according to the procedures of the German Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). In addition, the tear strength of ELASTOSIL® LR 5040 products without post-curing treatment exceeds the post-curing standard LSR grade. Therefore, they can withstand the mechanical stresses that may recur in the use of medical equipment.

The ELASTOSIL® LR 5040 product line has recently been supplemented with a new grade, which now covers the hardness range of 20 to 70 Shore A. In the cured state, the actual hardness of the uncured silicone elastomer does not deviate from the midpoint of the specification range by more than three points. Therefore, the product line can be easily injection molded. Eliminating the post-curing of silicone rubber parts can also create significant potential for streamlining and automation in the manufacturing process, especially if located in a clean room environment, and promote fast, efficient, and cost-effective mass production.

Visit WACKER's booth E79 in Hall 13 of COMPAMED 2021 and visit our website www.wacker.com/compamed.

At this year's COMPAMED exhibition, the Munich-based WACKER Chemical Group demonstrated the silicone adhesives SILPURAN® 2114 and SILPURAN® 2122. Due to their high adhesive strength, these silicone gels are not only suitable for wound dressings, but also for fixing wounds and wearable medical devices. (Photo: WACKER)

At COMPAMED 2021, the Munich-based chemical company WACKER will showcase ELASTOSIL® LR 5040 liquid silicone rubber. After curing, the product has high tear strength and does not require heat treatment. (Photo: WACKER)

Wacker Chemie AG Media Relations and Information Florian Degenhart

telephone. 49 89 6279-1601 Email florian.degenhart@wacker.com Send message

Wacker Chemie AG published this content on November 15, 2021, and is solely responsible for the information contained in it. Distributed by the public at 08:19:05, November 15, 2021 UTC, unedited and unaltered.