Liquid injection silicone and screen printing silicone usually cannot use the same color paste for the following reasons:
Material system differences: Liquid injection silicone and screen printing silicone belong to different process systems. The former is a two-component liquid silicone rubber (LSR) through injection molding, and the latter is an ink-like material through screen printing. There are essential differences between the two in curing mechanism, crosslinking density and physical state, so the compatibility requirements for color pastes are different.
Influence of curing process: Liquid injection silicone needs to be cured at a high temperature of 170-200℃, and the color paste needs to have high temperature resistance and be compatible with the silicone substrate; while screen printing silicone mostly uses thermal curing (such as 120-160℃), and its color paste needs to adapt to low temperature curing conditions. If the color paste is not heat resistant or reacts with the substrate, it may lead to incomplete curing or performance degradation.
Compatibility of color paste with substrate: The color paste of liquid injection silicone needs to maintain stability at high temperature to avoid adverse reactions with the silicone substrate; the color paste of screen printing silicone needs to be compatible with the ink system to ensure the adhesion and durability of the pattern after printing. The two have different requirements for the chemical properties, dispersibility and stability of color pastes. Direct mixing may lead to problems such as poor color fastness, blurred patterns or falling off.