General Electric's scientists helped develop major families of silicones.
1. Rubbery materials that could be fabricated into tubing, hose, gaskets and seals. These rubbers required some new chemistry so they could be "cured" - the process that converts a raw rubber compound into a useful article. GE's engineers coated these rubbers onto glass fibers to make the electrical insulating tapes they initially sought.
2. Resins for hard coatings, films and paints.
3. New chemistry for RTV's- (Room Temperature Vulcanizable) products. These are the familiar tubes of sealant that we squeeze in place and allow to cure the action of the moisture in the air.
4. Fluids that were heated and chemically stable. These fluids were great lubricants, they would not be attacked by water so they became water repellant. And in the early 1960's, physicians began to implant silicone fluid filled sacs for breast augmentation.
5. GE's Dr. Patnode observed that the silanes themselves, such as (CH3)2SiCl2 (9) would make cloth and paper water resistant. Water would not be absorbed by treated articles- the water just beaded up on the surface. Dozens of silane materials are used today for protection from the water.
