Primer for heat-curable silicone elastomers

1. A primer composition comprising:

(A) 100 parts by weight of a partial hydrolysis product of at least one tetraalkoxysilane, or a mixture of said partial hydrolysis product and at least one tetraalkoxysilane;

(B) 25-400 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of component (A), of a component selected from the group consisting of metal salts, metal alkoxides, metal chelates, partial hydrolysis products thereof, and mixtures thereof;

(C) 25-125 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of component (A), of at least one silicone resin; and

(D) at least one solvent selected from the group consisting of organic solvents, low molecular weight cyclic and linear polyorganosilicone compounds and mixtures thereof, with the proviso that the proportion of the solvent, based on the total composition, is 50-95% by weight, wherein the partial hydrolysis product of at least one tetralkoxysilane of constituent (A) comprises:

0-45 mol % of Q0 units,

30-80 mol % of Q1 units,

5-50 mol % of Q2 units, and

0-15 mol % of Q3 units.

2. The primer composition of claim 1 , wherein constituent (A) comprises a partial hydrolysis product comprising:

5-35 mol % of Q0 units,

30-80 mol % of Q1 units,

5-50 mol % of Q2 units, and

15 mol % of Q3 units,

wherein Q4 radicals comprise any remaining mol % of constituent A, and Q0 units are Si(OR 1 ) 4 , Q1 units are (R 1 O) 3 SiO 1/2 , Q2 units are (R 1 O) 2 SiO 2/2 , Q3 units are (R 1 O) 1 SiO 3/2 and Q4 units are SiO 4/2 and R 1 independently of one another, are monovalent, substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon radicals.

3. The primer composition of claim 2 , wherein the primer composition additionally comprises:

(E) one or more organosilicon compounds having at least one hydrolyzable group, the partial hydrolysis product thereof, or a mixture thereof, the organosilicon compound comprising one or more compounds having the average formula (V)

R 5 b R 6 c R 7 d SiX 4−b−c−d   (V)

in which

R 5 is a monovalent, aliphatically unsaturated, substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon radical having 2 to 18 carbon atoms,

R 6 is an optionally halogen-substituted, monovalent hydrocarbon radical having 1 to 18 carbon atoms,

R 7 are R 5 b R 6 c SiX 3−b−c —R 8 — or YR 8 -radicals,

X is a hydrolyzable group —O 2 CR 6 , —OR 6 , —NR 6 2 , R 6 —C(═O)—N(R 6 )—, or —O—N═CR 6 2 ,

Y is a monovalent radical selected from the group consisting of anhydride, aminoalkoxy, aminoalkyl, N-aminoalkylamino, acryloylxy, methacryloyloxy, sulfone, sulfonate, phosphate, phosphonate, amino, N-alkylamino, epoxy and mercapto radicals,

R 8 is a divalent, optionally substituted hydrocarbon radical having 1 to 22 carbon atoms, which may contain one or more heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of N, O, and S, and

b,c,d independently, are 0, 1, 2 or 3.

4. The primer composition of claim 3 , wherein at least one constituent (E) is selected from the group consisting of 3-(methacryloyloxy)propyltrimethoxysilane, 3 -(methacryloyloxy)methyltrimethoxysilane, 3-(glycidyloxy)propyltrimethoxysilane and 1,2-bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane.

5. The primer composition of claim 4 , wherein the solvent is sec-butanol or a mixture containing sec-butanol.

6. The primer composition of claim 4 , wherein the primer composition contains, as solvent (D), from 70 to 90% by weight of a hydrocarbon fraction comprising C7 to C10 alkanes and having a boiling range of 110-140° C., or a hydrocarbon fraction comprising C9 to C12 alkanes and having a boiling range of 150-180° C.

7. The primer composition of claim 4 , wherein the primer composition contains, as solvent (D), from 70 to 95 percent by weight of an aliphatic alcohol selected from the group consisting of ethanol, isopropanol, n-butanol, isobutanol, sec-butanol, and mixtures thereof.

8. A process for the preparation of a primer composition of claim 3 , comprising uniformly dissolving or mixing components (A), (B), and (C) in the solvent (D) in a mixing unit.

9. The primer composition of claim 1 , wherein the primer composition contains, as solvent (D), from 70 to 90% by weight of a hydrocarbon fraction comprising C7 to C10 alkanes and having a boiling range of 110-140° C., or a hydrocarbon fraction comprising C9 to C12 alkanes and having a boiling range of 150-180° C.

10. A process for the preparation of a primer composition of claim 1 , comprising uniformly dissolving or mixing components (A), (B), and (C) in the solvent (D) in a mixing unit.

11. The process of claim 9 , wherein the composition is heated to 50 to 100° C. for half an hour to 4 hours after the uniform mixing or dissolution.

12. The process of claim 9 , wherein the primer composition is diluted with further solvent.

13. A method for improving the adhesion of silicone rubber to a substrate, comprising applying a primer composition of claim 1 , to the substrate, air-drying or baking the primer composition in order to form a uniform primer film covering the substrate, applying of a crosslinkable silicone rubber composition to the substrate covered with the primer to obtain a composite, and curing the composite in order to obtain a silicone rubber adhesively bonded to a substrate.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the substrate is a metal selected from the group consisting of iron, nickel, aluminum, copper, zinc, stainless steel, brass, bronze and alloys thereof, and surface-treated metal selected from the group consisting of galvanized steel, phosphated steel, anodized aluminum, a plastic selected from the group consisting of natural rubber, epoxy, polyester and polyamide resins, PVC and PBT, and an inorganic material selected from the group consisting of glass, glass fibers, mortar and asbestos.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the primer composition applied to the substrate is dried at a temperature of from 0° C. to 150° C. for from 1 min to 100 hours.

16. A primer composition comprising:

(A) 100 parts by weight of a partial hydrolysis product of at least one tetraalkoxysilane, or a mixture of said partial hydrolysis product and at least one tetraalkoxysilane;

(B) 25-400 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of component (A), of a component selected from the group consisting of metal salts, metal alkoxides, metal chelates, partial hydrolysis products thereof, and mixtures thereof;

(C) 25-125 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of component (A), of a silicone resin component containing at least one MQ resin, and

(D) at least one solvent selected from the group consisting of organic solvents, low molecular weight cyclic and linear polyorganosilic one compounds and mixtures thereof, with the proviso that the proportion of the solvent, based on the total composition, is 50-95% by weight, wherein the partial hydrolysis product of at least one tetralkoxysilane of constituent (A) comprises:

0-45 mol % of Q0 units,

30-80 mol % of Q1 units,

5-50 mol % of Q2 units, and

0-20 mol % of Q3 units.

17. A primer composition comprising:

(A) 100 parts by weight of a partial hydrolysis product of at least one tetraalkoxysilane, or a mixture of said partial hydrolysis product and at least one tetraalkoxysilane;

(B) 25-400 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of component (A), of a component selected from the group consisting of metal salts, metal alkoxides, metal chelates, partial hydrolysis products thereof, and mixtures thereof;

(C) 25-125 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of component (A), of at least one silicone resin; and

(D) at least one solvent selected from the group consisting of organic solvents, low molecular weight cyclic and linear polyorganosilicone compounds and mixtures thereof, with the proviso that the proportion of the solvent, based on the total composition, is 50-95% by weight, wherein the partial hydrolysis product of at least one tetralkoxysilane of constituent (A) comprises:

0-45 mol % of Q0 units,

30-80 mol % of Q1 units,

5-50 mol % of Q2 units,

0-15 mol % of Q3 units, and

(E) at least one H-siloxane.