The rapid development of automotive lightweighting, electric tools, office equipment, and smart home devices has led to the extensive use of engineering plastics such as PA, POM, PC/ABS, and PBT for the production of numerous transmission gears, bearing bushings, plastic hinges, and electric housings. Pure resin-based plastic components have a high friction coefficient, resulting in severe heat generation during continuous operation, rapid component wear, and sharp frictional noise, which shortens the overall lifespan of the equipment. Wear-reducing and noise-reducing modified silicone oil is widely used as an internal lubrication modifier in engineering plastic granulation formulas to create oil-free self-lubricating plastic components.
During the twin-screw granulation stage, compatible modified silicone oil is added, and the silicone oil is uniformly dispersed in the resin matrix. When the plastic structural components continue to be frictionally operated, the silicone oil slowly migrates to the friction interface, forming a continuous organic silicon lubricating film, which reduces the friction coefficient between plastics and plastics, as well as between plastics and metals, reduces the generation of frictional heat, and inhibits the softening, wear, and deformation of plastics under high-temperature conditions. Compared with solid lubricants such as graphite and molybdenum disulfide, modified silicone oil has better dispersion properties, does not cause the products to blacken or have surface defects, and has less impact on the basic mechanical indicators such as tensile strength and impact toughness, balancing rigidity and self-lubrication requirements.
Friction vibration is the core cause of noise generation in plastic components. The lubricating interface formed by silicone oil can buffer friction vibration, effectively reducing operating noise. Currently, it is widely used in plastic gears for printers, household appliance hinges, internal transmission components of electric tools, and moving parts of automotive interiors, significantly improving the user experience of end products. Plastic accessories operating in outdoor conditions also have a water-repellent and moisture-proof layer on the surface, which can resist the erosion of rain and moisture, delay the hydrolysis and aging of engineering plastics, and extend the service life of outdoor products.
During the formula development process, it is necessary to precisely control the proportion of silicone oil added. If the addition amount is too low, the lubrication and noise reduction effect will be insufficient; if the addition amount is excessive, it is prone to be rapidly precipitated on the surface of the product, forming an oil film, which will seriously affect the subsequent screen printing, painting, and glue bonding effects. IOTA engineering plastic-specific modified silicone oil has undergone molecular modification, significantly improving the compatibility with nylon and polyester engineering plastics, with controllable migration rate, effectively avoiding the problem of excessive precipitation. For glass fiber reinforced and flame-retardant modified engineering plastics, compatible models can also be provided, suitable for complex modified formula systems.
Under the current trend of lightweighting, the process of replacing metal components with plastic in the automotive industry is accelerating, and the market demand for self-lubricating and low-noise plastic structural components is continuously increasing. High-performance wear-reducing modified silicone oil has continuously broken the monopoly of overseas products and has stable supply at a reasonable cost to domestic modified plastic enterprises. In the long run, multi-functional modified silicone oil will continue to empower the upgrade of engineering plastics, promoting the wider application of plastic structural components in automotive electronics, smart homes, and electric equipment fields.