Outdoor plastic products, including landscape plastic guardrails, municipal pipes, outdoor appliance casings, photovoltaic plastic accessories, and garden plastic products, are exposed to sunlight, rain, and alternating high and low temperatures for a long time. Prolonged exposure to ultraviolet rays can easily cause resin molecular chains to break, resulting in discoloration, powdering, and cracking of the products; continuous infiltration of rain, salt water vapor, and other substances accelerates the hydrolysis and aging of the base material. Hydrophobic weather-resistant modified silicone oil can enhance the weather resistance and waterproof performance of plastic products by adding it internally or coating it on the surface, thereby extending the service life of outdoor products.
When silicone oil is used as an internal additive and mixed into the plastic system, after the product is formed, a small amount of silicone oil slowly migrates to the surface of the plastic, forming a dense hydrophobic silicone film. Water droplets falling on the surface form water beads and roll off, significantly reducing the probability of water penetration into the plastic interior and reducing the occurrence of substrate hydrolysis induced by water vapor. At the same time, the organic silicon molecules have excellent UV resistance and can assist in improving the aging resistance of plastic products, delaying yellowing and powdering. For PVC and PE municipal water supply and drainage pipes, modified silicone oil not only improves weather resistance but also improves the extrusion processing fluidity of the pipes, reduces surface blemishes and scratches, enhances the smoothness of the pipe outer wall, and reduces fluid transmission resistance.
For already formed plastic products, silicone oil can be coated on the surface by spraying or immersion to build a long-lasting protective layer. Compared to ordinary paint coatings, the silicone-based protective film has better toughness, is less likely to crack and fall off under the slight deformation of the plastic, and continuously exerts hydrophobic and anti-stain effects. Dust and stains are difficult to firmly adhere to the plastic surface, achieving simple self-cleaning, and reducing the frequency of maintenance and cleaning of outdoor facilities. Many landscape plastic and outdoor recreational plastic products have not blackened or accumulated dirt when placed outdoors for a long time, and their appearance retention time has been significantly prolonged after being modified with silicone oil.
It should be noted that general-purpose silicone oil has limited weather resistance and is prone to performance degradation under long-term exposure to sunlight. Outdoor plastic products must use benzene-modified, UV-resistant special silicone oil. These modified silicone oils have stable molecular structures and are not prone to degradation under long-term UV exposure, maintaining hydrophobic protection effects for a long time. At the same time, the content of small molecules is strictly controlled to avoid silicone oil volatilization and evaporation in high-temperature environments. IOTA weather-resistant special silicone oil is suitable for outdoor common plastic systems such as polyolefins, PVC, and ASA, meeting the production requirements of municipal, photovoltaic, and garden products.
The global infrastructure construction, photovoltaic industry, and outdoor tourism and cultural industry continue to develop, and the market size of outdoor plastic products is steadily expanding. Customers' requirements for product service life are constantly increasing. Solely relying on traditional formulations of light stabilizers and antioxidants has led to continuously rising costs. Combining weather-resistant and hydrophobic modified silicone oil to form a composite anti-aging solution has become an important direction for many plastic enterprises to optimize formulations and control costs. Hydrophobic weather-resistant modified silicone oil has broad market prospects and continuously helps to upgrade the quality of outdoor plastic products.