Materials currently available for 3D printing, such as resins, alloys (such as nickel-based chromium, cobalt, aluminum, titanium, etc.), polymers, ceramics, plastics, and the like. With the ACEO® Imagine Series 100, WACKER became the company that industrialized its elastomers through 3D printing. Before WACKER* introduced this revolutionary technology, silicones were not able to perform 3D printing. Today, *silicone has been used in modeling or small batch production, which has benefited many industries. So, what is special about “*silicone” or “true elastomer” for the 3D printing industry?


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    In the interview question and answer form, I will share with you some of the insights of Dr. Bernd Pachaly from the WACKER ACEO® expert team in Germany on the application of silicone materials to 3D printing technology to help you unveil the mystery of silicone 3D printing.


Dr Bernd Pachaly


Dr Bernd Pachaly


    Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Technical University of Berlin, postdoctoral research at the University of Wisconsin in 1984. He has many years of research work experience in the field of silicones. In 1985, joined the Wacker Chemical Group. He has served as the head of the core R&D department, the R&D manager of the silicone business, and the head of the business team of the Silicone Engineering Department. In 2013, he took over the silicone innovation business and has been responsible for the silicone 3D printing project since 2017.


    Dr. Q1. Pachaly, what is silicone?


    A: Silicone, a polysiloxane name, is a generic term for a class of polymers whose main chain is alternately composed of silicon oxygen atoms. Among such materials, silicone rubber is an important member made of liquid silicone rubber or solid silicone rubber through various crosslinking reactions.


    Q2. What type of silicone is used by ACEO®?


    A: ACEO® uses liquid silicone rubber, which has long been known for being widely used in injection molding. As one of WACKER's brands, ACEO® has benefited from WACKER's more than 70 years of silicone expertise to continuously develop such silicones to meet specific application requirements.


    The main components of silicone rubber are silicone polymers, crosslinkers, reinforcing fillers and catalysts. These materials react with high viscosity mixtures to form rubber. No organic or copolymer is used, and the finished product is a real rubber (*silicone) rather than a "rubber-like" material. In addition, this cross-linking reaction is a platinum-catalyzed hydrosilylation reaction with no by-products or residues.


    Q3. What is special about silicones compared to other types of rubber?


    A: What makes synthetic rubber unreachable is that silicones have unique chemical and mechanical properties, such as:


    Flexibility and flexibility


    Weather resistance


    Wide application temperature range


    Radiation resistance


    Biological inertia


    Silicone rubber is generally biocompatible and meets food application requirements. Because of its stability, no additives or stabilizers are needed.


    Q4. What are the advantages of silicone 3D printing compared to silicone injection molding?


    A: Silicone 3D printing can directly convert digital models into physical objects without the use of any tools or molds, reducing production costs, especially for modeling or small batch production.


    Another advantage of silicone 3D printing is the savings in production time: the process cycle can be significantly reduced; and products can be quickly improved during product development.


    Each 3D printing unit can be customized to meet the needs of the dental or dental care industry, making it easy to create anatomical models that simulate human tissue.


ACEO® offers custom silicones for specific application requirements


ACEO® offers custom silicones for specific application requirements


    Which applications and industries can benefit from Q5.3D printed* silicone?


    A: In the industrial fields such as transportation or machinery, rapid modeling, small-volume production, and on-demand production of spare parts are very important.


    In the medical field, silicone 3D printing can be used to create customized applications such as dental clips or anatomical models, and ACEO® products can also be used to customize treatment according to the specific conditions of patients, thus further promoting medical education and surgery. The formulation of the previous plan.


    WACKER has more than 70 years of silicone expertise and technology, so each process meets * industry standards