Clear optical properties, reliable and durable protection, easy and robust processing are key characteristics for LED luminaire encapsulants in harsh environments. Lighting under harsh environments (outdoor, explosion-proof) particularly suffers from heavy and costly fixtures for protecting the electronic parts, and to penetrate this market, lightweight LED luminaires require sustainable and reliable protection. The luminaire market is currently dominated by polyurethane-based materials. Optically clear silicone encapsulant use is limited by several factors, including cost. Due to this, silicone is currently limited to applications where high thermal and/or photo stability are needed which is mainly related to high/mid power LED application and/or harsh environment such as explosion proof lighting where products need to pass severe testing that the other chemistries cannot pass. Dow Chemical’s DOWSIL EI-2888 Primerless Silicone Encapsulant can overcome the current limitations of silicone offering and is even able to compete and provide significant advantage over leading polyurethane technology thanks to its unique combination of properties that do not currently exist on the market.
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