Do you have a recommended method for bonding a Kapton™ (polyimide), thin-foil heater, to silicone rubber?
Factory bonding by the supplier is the best option. The bonding of the two different materials can be achieved during the lamination process using cured/uncured silicone rubber. Follow-up question: Can you recommend a method for bonding a Kapton™ (polyimide) heater to CURED silicone rubber? There are several ways to do this process: • Vulcanize the two materials together using uncured/uncured silicone rubber. The disadvantages to this are adding thickness to the part, reducing heat transfer, cost, and you would need your supplier to perform the vulcanization. The benefit is that the bond between the materials will superior over the other two methods listed below. • Use RTV to bond the materials together. The disadvantages to this are the process is messy, variation in RTV thickness, and heat transfer. The benefits are you will have a good bond and you don’t need the supplier to perform the bonding. • The last method is using a silicone based PSA. Apply the silicone PSA to the Kapton™ (
