The waterproof colloid of flex LED strip lights

Outdoor LED tape lights are widely used in urban beautification, architectural lighting, vehicle lighting, and other outdoor lightings. With the popularity of strip lighting, there are several materials are commonly used in waterproof encapsulating. At present, epoxy resin, polyurethane, and silicone are the three most common materials, which have their own different characteristics.

The epoxy resin generally has good light transmittance that is between 85 and 92%, which can be used in the environment with the temperature of -5 ° C to 55 ° C. Due to the TG point is low, the colloid of epoxy resin will easy to be broken when the environmental temperature exceeds the range. After the LED is lit for 700 hours, the epoxy resin will turn yellow gradually, affecting the brightness and CCT of LED beads.

Polyurethane, also called PU, has a light transmittance of 85-92% and good flexibility. After curing, the PU colloid can be used for a long time at -25 ° C to 95 ° C. With the decrease of the temperature, the flexibility of the LED strip will reduce. If the surface humidity of FPC is too high in production, the adhesion between the colloid and LED strips will greatly decrease.

Silicone has a light transmittance of 84% to 92%. The hardness can be adjusted in production. There is no significant change in the physical and optical properties of the product as it is used at -45 ° C to 200 ° C. Therefore, the silicon waterproof LED strip lights are very suitable for use in cold regions such as Russia, Northern Europe, North America, etc. Moreover, silicone light strips are resistant to ozone, ultraviolet light, acid, alkali, etc., which ensure the colloid will not turn yellow for a long time. But the problems are that its adhesion is lower than that of the epoxy resin and the cost is relatively high.

As a professional LED strip manufacturer, we hold the opinion that the silicone with better performance will have a bigger market share. Especially for the harsh using environments, it is necessary to use silicone waterproof LED strip lights.