Silicone Tubing

Quality is characterized by rigorous standards, individual commitment and the most professional of accepted methods. The manufacturing facility of our silicone tubing produces only bio-pharmaceutical-grade platinum-cured silicone products. The ultimate elastomer for transferring ultra-pure materials.

The process begins with bio-pharmaceutical-grade, platinum-cured silicone elastomers. All materials used in our silicone tubing are carefully controlled from receiving through production and inspection. Lot traceability is readily accessible and batch numbers are assigned. All products pass through a finely tuned system that includes milling, blending, extruding (to I.D., O.D. and wall specifications), vulcanizing and color identification processes. When required, braid and wire reinforcement are applied for high-pressure and vacuum applications.

The process is completed with a final inspection of all silicone tubing prior to bagging and thermal sealing. Special orders can be cleaned and packaged in our Class 100,000 clean room. All packages are identified by external labeling on both the bag and the high-quality crush-proof box, completing preparation of the product for final shipment.

Our labeling exhibits the product part number, description and lot number of our silicone tubing for ultimate product traceability.

Choice of Four Silicone Tubing Materials:

Biomedical/Pharmaceutical grade silicone tubing is offered in a full range of competitive sizes for standard, close tolerance or peristaltic pump applications. Custom sizes and/or materials are available on request.

All tubing offered are platinum-cured, containing no additives, plasticizers or peroxide components. The silicone tubing is non-adherent and resists clotting, sticking or encrustation. With an indefinite shelf life and able to operate at elevated temperatures, it will not oxidize or deteriorate. Rigorous testing, including expanded biocompatibility, provides quality assurance for the most demanding Biomedical/Pharmaceutical industry standards.

All our tubing meets USP Class VI-XXIII biocompatibility requirements. Choose from Dow Corning Silastic®, Wacker Silicones Corporation, General Electric Company or NuSil Technology platinum-cured elastomers for standard, close tolerance or pumping applications.

All platinum-cured silicone tubing is manufactured in their FDA registered medical device facility following Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) in accordance with the Quality System Regulation.

Chemistry’s Role in Platinum-Cured Silicone Tubing

Platinum-cured silicone tubing is manufactured using complex chemical reactions to create tubing stock that will perform well in high pressure and high demand scenarios. The actual tubing stock is created by combining long chains of polydimethylsiloxane (typically methyl or hydrogen-substituted) and polydimethylsiloxane gums with a metal complex that acts as a curing agent.

In the case of platinum-cured silicone tubing, that curing agent is platinum (Pt). The process that results in platinum-cured tubing is often referred to as an addition cure. The addition of platinum to the other polymers provides a jump start to the chemical reaction that forms the rubber tubing. There are two common methods for conducting this process. In one method, an organometallic complex is used as the curing agent. In the other process, platinum salt is added as the curing agent. The use of organometallic complexes is more popular today, with fewer manufacturers using the older chemistries that involve platinum salts.

The cost of creating platinum-cured rubber tubing is higher than alternative methods such as peroxide (or free radical) curing. Although the platinum curing process requires a relatively miniscule amount of the curing agent, typically between 5 and 15 ppm of Pt to be effective as a catalyst, the final products (e.g. medical grade silicone tubing) often cost more because of the higher cost associated with Pt.

We have been certified to meet ISO 9001/EN 46001 quality standards.