COP Chimie is a French SME located in the Vercors region. It has been developing materials for the orthopedics industry for more than 30 years. The company's R&D laboratory and its synthesis department have successfully developed COPSIL3D 4025, a printable silicone elastomer certified for skin contact. This soft and flexible new material makes it possible to produce orthotics and external prostheses through 3D printing. This innovative solution in the field of orthopedic equipment can make customized medical devices faster and will greatly facilitate the lives of many disabled people who wear these devices every day.
Silicones are usually in the form of oils or translucent elastomers, which are easy to color and are appreciated for their heat resistance, flexibility, hydrophobicity and texture properties. Silicones also ensure chemical stability, which makes them particularly suitable for physiological environments. Therefore, silicones are used in the combination of a variety of products and objects, with a wide range of uses: sanitary and cleaning products, seals, industrial or food molds, coatings and paints, lubricants and greases, prostheses, toys, etc.
For example, in the medical field, the additive manufacturing of silicones makes it possible to produce customized equipment without the need for manual impressions or molding, thereby reducing manufacturing time and costs. It can also contain voids and change the filling rate of the structure to reduce them or change their characteristics, such as:
Supported by the paper work in collaboration with Lyon IMP/INSA, COP has developed a silicone with a specific consistency that can deposit liquid silicone layer by layer without collapsing. The hardness and reactivity of COPSIL3D can be adapted to the type of structure to be built. Once the two parts are mixed in the static mixer of the print head, platinum-catalyzed crosslinking (curing of the elastomer) occurs at room temperature. It can be accelerated by increasing energy.
The printed COPSIL3D elastomer has the same mechanical properties as cast silicone, has no shrinkage or odor, and is compatible with skin contact applications (ISO 10993-5 certification). They are ideal for manufacturing flexible parts with complex designs or small batches, for example for prototyping.
In order to popularize this technology, COP Chimie cooperated with French online 3D printing course expert F3DF to provide training on silicone 3D printing.
This market research by 3dpbm Research provides an in-depth analysis and forecast of the ceramic additive market.
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