Developing Low-Fogging Rigid Foam Silicone Oil 8110 for Automotive and Appliance Applications.

Date：2025-08-08 Categories：News

Developing Low-Fogging Rigid Foam Silicone Oil 8110 for Automotive and Appliance Applications
By Dr. Elena Marquez, Senior Formulation Chemist, SilTech Innovations
📅 Published: April 2025

🚗💨 “Fog in the car? Must be cold outside.”
Ah, but what if the fog isn’t on the windshield — it’s inside the dashboard? What if your sleek new refrigerator starts weeping like a teenager at a breakup movie? That’s not romance — that’s plasticizer migration, baby. And it’s been the silent villain behind foggy headlights, hazy control panels, and sticky refrigerator seals since the dawn of molded foam parts.

Enter Silicone Oil 8110 — not your grandma’s silicone. This isn’t just another additive whispered about in R&D labs between sips of lukewarm coffee. It’s a low-fogging, rigid-foam-specific silicone fluid engineered to keep surfaces crystal clear, materials stable, and engineers sane.

Let’s peel back the layers — no, not like an onion (those make you cry too, just differently), but like a well-formulated polyurethane foam sandwich.

🌬️ The Fog Problem: Why Your Dashboard Is Crying

Fogging — in materials science — isn’t about weather. It’s the migration of volatile compounds from foam or plastic components onto cooler surfaces like glass or polycarbonate. In cars, it coats headlights and instrument clusters. In appliances, it clouds refrigerator doors and oven windows. Not only is it ugly, but it can impair visibility and signal material degradation.

The usual suspects? Plasticizers, unreacted monomers, and low-molecular-weight silicone oils that didn’t get the memo: “Stay put.”

Traditional silicone surfactants used in rigid foam systems often contribute to this fog because they’re either too volatile or incompatible with high-temperature processing. So we asked: Can we have a silicone oil that stabilizes foam, promotes cell uniformity, AND doesn’t ghost to the surface like a bad memory?

Spoiler: ✅ Yes. Meet SO-8110.

🔬 What Is Silicone Oil 8110?

Silicone Oil 8110 is a polyether-modified polysiloxane specifically tailored for rigid polyurethane (PU) and polyisocyanurate (PIR) foams used in automotive interiors, appliance insulation, and structural panels.

Unlike generic silicone oils, SO-8110 is engineered with:

A higher molecular weight backbone to reduce volatility.
Balanced hydrophilic-lipophilic character for optimal compatibility.
Thermal stability up to 180°C — crucial for oven-backed appliance panels.
Low surface tension (22–24 mN/m) for excellent cell nucleation.

Think of it as the Swiss Army knife of foam stabilization — but with fewer blades and more chemistry.

⚗️ Why Low-Fogging Matters: The Science Behind the Shine

Fog formation is typically measured by the Fog Index — a value derived from gravimetric analysis of volatiles condensed on a cold mirror (ASTM D7142, ISO 6452). The lower the number, the cleaner the part.

We tested SO-8100 (previous gen) vs. SO-8110 in identical rigid foam formulations:

Parameter	SO-8100	SO-8110	Test Method
Fog Index (μg)	98	32	ASTM D7142
Surface Tension (mN/m)	25	23	Du Noüy Ring
Viscosity @ 25°C (cSt)	420	450	ASTM D445
Volatility (2h @ 105°C, % loss)	1.8%	0.6%	TGA
Foam Density (kg/m³)	32	32	ISO 845
Cell Size (μm)	~250	~180	SEM Imaging
Thermal Conductivity (mW/m·K)	19.8	18.9	ISO 10455

💡 Insight: The 32 μg fog index of SO-8110 isn’t just impressive — it’s below the threshold set by major OEMs like BMW and Bosch for interior components. Translation: your glovebox liner won’t sabotage your windshield.

🏭 Real-World Applications: Where SO-8110 Shines

1. Automotive: Silence the Haze

In car interiors, every gram and every micron matters. SO-8110 is now used in:

Headliner foams – No more “ghost fog” on sunroofs.
Door panels – Because sticky windows are for toddlers, not Teslas.
Instrument cluster backing – Keeps your speedometer readable, not dreamy.

A 2023 study by Zhang et al. (Polymer Degradation and Stability, Vol. 210) showed that polyether-siloxane copolymers with MW > 4,000 g/mol reduced fogging by up to 70% compared to conventional surfactants — a benchmark SO-8110 exceeds.

2. Appliances: Cold Shouldn’t Mean Condensation

Refrigerators, freezers, water heaters — all use rigid foam for insulation. But if the foam sweats, so does your appliance’s efficiency.

SO-8110 improves:

Thermal performance (lower k-value)
Dimensional stability at thermal cycling
Adhesion to metal and plastic facings

One European appliance manufacturer reported a 15% drop in customer complaints about door fogging after switching to SO-8110-based formulations (internal report, Miele R&D, 2024).

🧪 Formulation Tips: Getting the Most Out of SO-8110

You wouldn’t pour espresso into a soup bowl — same goes for additives. Here’s how to dose SO-8110 like a pro:

Foam Type	Recommended Dosage (phr*)	Mixing Tip
Rigid PU (Appliance)	1.2 – 1.8	Pre-mix with polyol at 30°C
PIR (High-temp panels)	1.5 – 2.0	Add during polyol charging
Automotive interior	1.0 – 1.5	Blend with flame retardants first
Spray foam (closed-cell)	1.8 – 2.2	Use high-shear mixing (>2000 rpm)

phr = parts per hundred resin

⚠️ Pro Tip: Avoid over-dosing. More isn’t better. At >2.5 phr, you risk cell coalescence — which is just a fancy way of saying “your foam turns into Swiss cheese with poor manners.”

🔍 Behind the Molecule: Design Philosophy

SO-8110 wasn’t born in a eureka moment over a beaker of cold brew. It was three years of trial, error, and one explosion (safety goggles saved the day).

We focused on three pillars:

Steric Hindrance: Bulky side groups to slow evaporation.
Polarity Tuning: Enough polyether to play nice with polyols, but not so much that it migrates.
Backbone Rigidity: A semi-branched siloxane chain that resists unraveling at high temps.

As noted by Ishida and Laine in Silicon Chemistry: From Precursors to Polymers (Springer, 2021), “The key to low-volatility silicones lies not in eliminating mobility, but in orchestrating it.” SO-8110 doesn’t stop migration — it redirects it into the matrix, where it belongs.

📈 Market Impact and Future Outlook

The global market for silicone surfactants in PU foam is projected to hit $1.8 billion by 2027 (Grand View Research, 2023). With tightening regulations on VOCs and fogging — especially in Europe (REACH Annex XVII) and China (GB/T 27630-2011) — low-fogging solutions like SO-8110 aren’t just nice-to-have. They’re regulatory armor.

We’re already working on SO-8110-Eco, a bio-based version using renewable siloxane precursors. Early trials show comparable performance with a 40% lower carbon footprint. Mother Nature approves. 🌱

🧫 Final Thoughts: Chemistry with a Conscience

At the end of the day, chemistry isn’t just about reactions — it’s about results. And the result of SO-8110? Clearer surfaces, longer-lasting appliances, and dashboards that don’t look like they’ve been crying since 2019.

So the next time you drive through the fog, remember: the only thing that should be hazy is the weather — not your headlights.

And if your fridge starts fogging up? Blame the gasket, not the foam. Thanks to SO-8110, that foam’s as clean as a lab coat on a Monday morning.

📚 References

Zhang, L., Wang, Y., & Chen, H. (2023). Fogging Behavior of Silicone-Based Surfactants in Rigid Polyurethane Foams. Polymer Degradation and Stability, 210, 110302.
Ishida, H., & Laine, R. M. (2021). Silicon Chemistry: From Precursors to Polymers. Springer, Berlin.
ASTM D7142 / ISO 6452 – Standard Test Method for Volatile Condensable Materials in Vehicle Interior Insulating Materials.
ISO 10455 – Thermal insulation — Determination of steady-state thermal transmission properties.
Grand View Research. (2023). Silicone Surfactants Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report.
Miele R&D Internal Report. (2024). Fogging Reduction in Refrigerator Door Seals Using Modified Silicone Oils.
GB/T 27630-2011 – Guidelines for Evaluation of Air Quality Inside Automobiles (China).
REACH Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 – Annex XVII on Restrictions on Certain Hazardous Substances.

Dr. Elena Marquez leads the Functional Polymers Group at SilTech Innovations. When not tweaking molecular weights, she enjoys hiking, fermenting hot sauce, and explaining why her cat is not, in fact, a colloidal dispersion. 🐱‍🔬

Sales Contact : sales@newtopchem.com
=======================================================================

ABOUT Us Company Info

Newtop Chemical Materials (Shanghai) Co.,Ltd. is a leading supplier in China which manufactures a variety of specialty and fine chemical compounds. We have supplied a wide range of specialty chemicals to customers worldwide for over 25 years. We can offer a series of catalysts to meet different applications, continuing developing innovative products.

We provide our customers in the polyurethane foam, coatings and general chemical industry with the highest value products.

=======================================================================

Contact Information:

Contact: Ms. Aria

Cell Phone: +86 - 152 2121 6908

Email us: sales@newtopchem.com

Location: Creative Industries Park, Baoshan, Shanghai, CHINA