Silicone vs NBR vs EPDM Rubber Sheet: Which Gasket Material Fits Your Application?

Silicone, NBR and EPDM rubber sheet all gasket and seal, but each resists a different threat — oil, extreme heat, or weather and ozone. Choosing based on the wrong property (or simply on price) is the most common reason a rubber gasket fails early.

NBR (nitrile): the oil and fuel specialist

Rubber Sheet in NBR grade resists oil, fuel and hydraulic fluid — its defining property — at moderate temperatures up to around 100°C. It’s the correct choice anywhere oil or fuel contact is expected, but it isn’t the best performer against weather or ozone exposure.

EPDM: weather, ozone and water resistance

EPDM grade rubber sheet resists weathering, UV and ozone significantly better than NBR, and handles higher temperatures (up to around 150°C) — the right choice for outdoor, marine or water-exposed gaskets, but it degrades faster than NBR on prolonged oil contact.

Silicone: the extreme-temperature and food-grade specialist

Silicone Rubber Sheet operates from -60°C to +230°C — far beyond either NBR or EPDM — and is available in food-grade formulations for direct food and pharmaceutical contact. Its trade-off is lower mechanical strength and higher cost than the other two.

A quick decision table

Frequently asked questions

Can EPDM be used where occasional oil contact happens? Not reliably for prolonged exposure — NBR is the correct choice if oil contact is a real, ongoing factor, even if weather resistance would otherwise favour EPDM.

Is silicone rubber sheet worth the extra cost for non-food applications? Where the temperature range genuinely exceeds NBR or EPDM’s limits, yes — for moderate-temperature general gasketing, the added cost usually isn’t justified.

Tell us what the gasket will actually be exposed to — oil, weather, or extreme heat — and we’ll confirm the right rubber grade.