Comparison of Properties of Silicone Rubber Containing Particulate and Fibrous Fire-proofing Fillers

Recently, there has been a growing interest in the development of non-flammable, flame-retardant, and fireproofing materials due to large-scale fires in buildings. Especially, there is a great possibility of researching non-flammable or flame-retardant fillers/silicone rubber composites having excellent thermal properties. In this study, four types of silicone rubber composites were analyzed for thermal, curing, and physical properties. It was confirmed that the fireproofing performance of mineral fiber and glass fiber/silicone composites was superior to those of two powder type filler composites examined by gas-torch flame test and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Also, thermal decomposition activation energies were calculated by the Horowitz-Metzger method by TGA. Particulate fillers/silicone rubber composites show greater tensile, tear, and elongation properties and fibrous fillers/silicone rubber composites have improved properties in terms of compressive strength and hardness examined by universal material testing machine (UTM).