Here is a somewhat off topic subject that some may find interesting. I came across a site called Sugru. It is about a moldable product called Sugru developed by an individual and a couple of her friends. If you look at the site you can see examples of using Sugru for various types of repair including replacing part of a scissors handle and replacing knobs on electronic equipment. It also has a fairly high temperature rating, up to +180 deg. C. The product was first introduced on the site late last year and sold out all available product in a matter of hours. I tried to buy some but they will not have more available till late this year. I have put my name on a list for notification where more Sugru is available for purchase.
I have an immediate need for something like Sugru. So I started researching the product and found the patents on it. And also a couple of patents for some similar products. What I found is most interesting; or at least I find it interesting. Sugru is basically an off the shelf silicone adhesive with moist flour or powdered wood added. The flour and/or wood provides some useful properties to the silicone adhesive. It provides a firmness/hardness to the silicone while still providing some flexibility and some tackiness to the cured material. It also greatly reduces cure time and can eliminate the need for the need for air curing. This is achieved by the added moisture in the flour or wood powders. I didn't know it before but silicone glue is primarily cured by the moisture in the air. By incorporating moisture in the added powders, the need for air to cure silicone can be eliminated, curing time greatly reduced and curing of the interior of the material more reliable. This makes it similar to an epoxy in some ways. At first I thought that flour as an additive would actually provide for a weak cured material but it appears that due to the cross linker additive in the silicone, it actually strengthens the final material. It also led to learning about the use of cross linkers and adhesion promoters in silicone adhesives and that you can purchase them from Sigma Aldrich. that opens up the possibilities of adding specific cross linkers and adhesion promoters to off the shelf silicone adhesives to optimize them for a specific application. I plan on trying zeolite as an additive and moisture carrier to see if it will provide a stronger, more durable material. It may be that one could add a form of silver such as EIS as the moisture additive or AgCl powder to make a anti microbial material surface. I guess that I will have enough to experiment with while I wait for Sugru to become available. Below are some possibly useful links for those interested. - Steve N http://sugru.com/ http://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2008/0216948.html http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wo.jsp?WO=2006126000&IA=GB2006001931&DISPLA Y=DESC http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5346940.html http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT6593413 -- The Silver List is a moderated forum for discussing Colloidal Silver. Rules and Instructions: http://www.silverlist.org Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html Off-Topic discussions: <mailto:[email protected]> List Owner: Mike Devour <mailto:[email protected]>
