The Advantages of Silicone Tubing

The cleaning and sterilization
The silicone pipe is packed in "extrusion molding". An article which writes about the comparison of organic silicon associated with plankton and other tubings, mentioning the importance of cleaning before using: organic silicone does not exert significant effect, while the other tubings reduce the growth rate of phytoplankton. That means after cleaning the effect is eliminated in some cases. Some people use WFI before washing and then use compressed air to dry in air-conditioned rooms, but few details are available. Because of its stability, organic silicone is easy to sterilize.

General sterilization procedures include:

• Use an autoclave (steam) to achieve a standard gravity steam sterilization cycle (30 min, 15 psi, 121 DEG C) or a high speed steam sterilization cycle (15 min, 30 psi, 132 DEG C). Note that organic silicone materials are more difficult to heat than thermoplastic  plastics because they have an adiabatic nature and may therefore require more time to heat up.

• Gamma radiation, the dose of 2.5 Mrad (25 kGy) does not have a negative effect on mechanical performance (more doses may lead to some changes).

• Ethylene oxide (ETO) gives sufficient time to completely remove the left residual hexane gas. The residual levels of ethylene oxide after sterilization of different hoses have been investigated. Compared with PVC or polyester polyurethane tubings, silicone absorbs less ethylene oxide and can be released more quickly.