Silicone microparticles, comprising 100 parts by mass of silicone elastomer spherical microparticles having a volume average particle diameter within a range from 0.1 to 100 μm, and 0.5 to 25 parts by mass of a polyorganosilsesquioxane present on a surface of the silicone elastomer spherical microparticles, wherein
- the silicone elastomer is capable of absorbing not less than 200 parts by mass of a polymethylsiloxane having a viscosity at 25° C. of not more than 10 mm2/s per 100 parts by mass of the silicone elastomer, and
- the silicone elastomer is a cured product of a liquid silicone composition comprising:
- (A)
- (A1) an organopolysiloxane represented by an average composition formula (1) shown below:
- R1aR2bSiO(4-a-b)/2 (1)
- wherein R1 represents an unsubstituted or substituted monovalent hydrocarbon group of 1 to 30 carbon atoms excluding aliphatic unsaturated groups, R2 represents a monovalent olefinic unsaturated group of 2 to 6 carbon atoms, and a and b are positive numbers that satisfy 0<a<3, 0<b≦3, and 0.1≦a+b≦3, provided that a proportion of monovalent hydrocarbon groups of 6 to 30 carbon atoms is less than 5 mol % of all R1 groups,
- in which not less than 90 mol % of all siloxane units other than siloxane units at molecular terminals are dimethylsiloxane units represented by a formula:
- —(CH3)2SiO—, and having a molecular weight of not less than 5,000, having two monovalent olefinic unsaturated groups within each molecule, and having a monovalent olefinic unsaturated group content of not more than 0.04 mol/100 g,
- (A2) an organopolysiloxane represented by the average composition formula (1), in which not less than 90 mol % of all siloxane units other than siloxane units at molecular terminals are dimethylsiloxane units represented by a formula:
- —(CH3)2SiO—, and having a molecular weight of not less than 5,000, having at least three monovalent olefinic unsaturated groups within each molecule, and having a monovalent olefinic unsaturated group content of not more than 0.06 mol/100 g, or
- a combination of component (A1) and component (A2),
- (B)
- (B1) an organohydrogenpolysiloxane represented by an average composition formula (2) shown below:
- R3cHdSiO(4-c-d)/2 (2)
- wherein R3 represents an unsubstituted or substituted monovalent hydrocarbon group of 1 to 30 carbon atoms excluding aliphatic unsaturated groups, and c and d are positive numbers that satisfy 0<c<3, 0<d≦3, and 0.1≦c+d≦3, provided that a proportion of monovalent hydrocarbon groups of 6 to 30 carbon atoms is less than 5 mol % of all R3 groups, in which not less than 90 mol % of all siloxane units other than siloxane units at molecular terminals are dimethylsiloxane units represented by a formula:
- —(CH3)2SiO—, and having a molecular weight of not less than 5,000, having two hydrogen atoms bonded to silicon atoms within each molecule, and having a silicon atom-bonded hydrogen atom content of not more than 0.04 mol/100 g,
- (B2) an organohydrogenpolysiloxane represented by the average composition formula (2), in which not less than 90 mol % of all siloxane units other than siloxane units at molecular terminals are dimethylsiloxane units represented by a formula:
- —(CH3)2SiO—, and having a molecular weight of not less than 5,000, having at least three hydrogen atoms bonded to silicon atoms within each molecule, and having a silicon atom-bonded hydrogen atom content of not more than 0.06 mol/100 g, or
- a combination of component (B1) and component (B2),
- in an amount that yields from 0.5 to 2 hydrogen atoms bonded to silicon atoms within component (B) per monovalent olefinic unsaturated group within component (A), and (C) a platinum group metal-based catalyst,
- provided that when component (A) is component (A1), component (B) is either component (B2) or a combination of component (B1) and component (B2).