Glycerol-silicone foams - Tunable 3-phase elastomeric porous materials

The time- and cost-efficient production of silicone foams is one of the main challenges of a silicone industry seeking to make these products more competitive compared to traditional foams. Current methods are either too expensive, environmentally harmful or do not provide sufficient control over the foaming process, and therefore intensive research efforts have been launched to tackle this problem.

Herein, we present a simple, cheap and environmentally friendly method for preparing a 3-phase silicone-based porous material, the production of which involves a commercial silicone composition, glycerol (waste from bio-diesel production), and an inorganic base. The developed system allows for the precise tuning of foam density and its mechanical properties, thereby creating a robust platform for preparing well-defined porous silicone products.