Hollow Glass Microspheres, also called bubbles, microbubbles, or microballoons, are typically made out of borosilicate-sodalime glass blend formulation and provide the benefits of low density, high heat and chemical resistance. The walls of glass microspheres are rigid and typically have the thickness of 10% of the diameter of the sphere. Spherical microparticles are currently available in a broad range of densities from as low as 0.06g/c3 to as high as 0.80g/c3 and sizes from 5um to 180um in diameter. The crush strength of the hollow spheres is determined by the thickness of the walls and, as expected, the higher the sphere density the higher the crush strength. The lightweight hollow glass spheres are chemically stable, noncombustible, nonporous, and have excellent water resistance.

Hollow glass microspheres are also offered with conductive coatings. Conductive coating with optimized thickness provides spherical particles with good conductivity and shielding properties while maintaining the weight-saving benefit associated with hollow-core low-density materials. These conductive microbubbles are suitable for use in military applications, biotechnology, medical devices, electronics, and other specialty industries.

CATEGORIES
Hollow Glass Microspheres (Uncoated)
Hollow glass microspheres are light-weight, chemically stable materials, frequently used as functional additives to reduce weight (density) and improve buoyancy of materials.
Silver-Coated Hollow Glass Microspheres (Conductive)
Conductive silver coating on hollow glass microsheres offers benefits in catalysts, laser fusion targets, and electrically conducting bond line spacers.
Nickel-Plated Hollow Glass Microspheres (Conductive)
Conductive nickel-plated hollow microspheres are often used as a lightweight, lower cost, electrically conductive additive and an alternative option to silver.
Zinc Oxide (ZnO) Coated Hollow Glass Microspheres
Zinc oxide (ZnO) coating offers numerous advantages as a semiconductor, as well as high refractive index, high thermal conductivity, binding, antibacterial and UV-protection properties.
Photospheres™ – TiO2-Coated Hollow Glass Microspheres (Photocatalytic)
Glass microspheres coated with TiO2 in anatase form exhibit photocatalytic activity under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. Excellent photocatalytic activity against a range of relevant organic pollutants and effective in reducing gaseous pollutants.
Isospheres™- TiO2-Coated Hollow Glass Microspheres (Light Scattering)
Hollow glass microspheres coated with rutile titanium dioxide (TiO2) and are designed to be high quality seeding material with excellent light scattering properties for high temperature applications in the experimental fluid dynamics and particle image velocimetry (PIV) industry.

Application areas of using hollow glass microspheres:

Bowling balls, cast polyester, cast synthetic foam, caulk, explosives, polyester putty, sealants, shallow water pipe insulation, potting compounds, tooling boards, spackling compound, SMC/ BMC, Deep sea pipe insulation, Golf Balls, RIM, Pultrusion, sprayable PVC Plastisol sealer, Sprayable syntactic foam, spray-up/lay-up, and Thermoplastics masterbatches.

The hollow glass microspheres are extremely versatile and are used as additives in an astonishing variety of products. For example, they reduce the density of body fillers to weight of plastic parts to underwater deep pipe insulation.

In Indian automotive industry using hollow glass microsphere could be an added advantage in plastic parts of the car. These tiny bubbles help reduce vehicle weight – improving fuel efficiency, so its all about fuel efficient car.

The hollow glass microspheres can be formulated into quick-drying, low-shrinkage, spackling and other construction materials. And they provide a wide range of additional benefits in applications ranging from sporting goods to solar reflective paint.

This article comes from geoconproducts edit released

Hollow Glass Microspheres Market size was USD 1,938.3 million in 2019 and will grow at a CAGR of 4.4% from 2020 to 2026. Rising demand of energy efficient buildings and reducing greenhouse gas emission will positively impact on increase product demand over the forecast timeframe.

Hollow glass microspheres are also known as bubbles, microbubbles and micro-balloons. These are typically made of borosilicate-soda lime and offer various benefits such as low density, chemical resistance and high heat. Glass microspheres walls are quite rigid and have a thickness of over 10% of overall diameter of a sphere.

Based on application, the market is classified into paints & coatings, plastics, composites & rubber, transportation, insulation & buoyancy, healthcare, and others. The industry is likely to witness a high demand in Russia, China, Brazil, and India owing to the growing manufacturing sector and heavy infrastructure spending. Latin America is also forecast to achieve a high growth rate over the forecast period owing flourishing to oil & gas industry in the region, which offer lucrative growth opportunities to the major players of global hollow glass microspheres market.

Increasing demand for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is the major factor responsible for rising adoption of hollow microsphere systems worldwide. Multiple countries have implemented a variety of policies for mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Various countries have enacted legislation by establishing greenhouse gas emissions reduction, which requires state agencies to report GHG emissions.

This article comes from gminsights edit released

The objective of this work is to improve the structural characteristics of hollow glass microsphere filled epoxy syntactic foam composites with little voids content and improved hollow glass microsphere dispersion in the composite.

A modified degassing technique has been introduced during resin casting process of the hollow glass microsphere filled syntactic foam composites. The effect of hollow glass microsphere content volume fractions (5–25%) on the degassing techniques was examined. The syntactic foam composites were characterized by analysing structural morphology using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy(TEM), and density measurements (theoretical and experimental).

Less than 5% void content has been achieved in this study. This resulted in improved tensile and dynamic mechanical properties (DMA).

This article comes from degruyter edit released

Reducing the weight of thermoplastics parts has been a high priority objective in various industries such as transportation, aerospace, hand-held electronics and sports and leisure. Hollow glass microspheres are currently used in a variety of lightweight automotive applications, including thermoplastics, sheet and bulk molding composites (SMC/BMC), underbody coatings (plastisols), structural foams and auto body fillers. Hollow glass microspheres are excellent strength/weight optimizers when they are used in filled polymer systems such as glass fiber, talc, and calcium carbonate filled thermoplastics. Reducing and replacing a certain percentage of these high density fillers with hollow glass microspheres results in weight reduction while significantly maintaining the original mechanical properties of the composite. Hollow glass microspheres impart several benefits to thermoplastics in addition to density reduction.

These include:

  • productivity Benefits through faster cooling rates from the melt
  • dimensional stability (sink and warpage elimination)
  • increased stiffness (modulus) and heat distortion resistance
  • reduced thermal conductivity and dielectric constant

All of these new functions and benefits can be achieved with class-a surface and with existing equipment enabling new design functions.

This article comes from sciencedirect edit releasde

The hollow glass microspheres are extremely versatile and are used as additives in an astonishing variety of products. For example, they reduce the density of body fillers to weight of plastic parts to underwater deep pipe insulation.

In Indian automotive industry using hollow glass microspheres could be an added advantage in plastic parts of the car. These tiny bubbles help reduce vehicle weight – improving fuel efficiency, so its all about fuel efficient car.

The hollow glass microspheres can be formulated into quick-drying, low-shrinkage, spackling and other construction materials. And they provide a wide range of additional benefits in applications ranging from sporting goods to solar reflective paint.

This article comes from GP edit released

Hollow glass microspheres have found use in many applications over the years. They are widely used in the fiber-reinforced polyester industry to improve the manufacturing process of shower stalls and boats.

Lighter, more-durable fiberglass products are a direct result of the creative use of hollow glass microspheres. Thick-film ink, mining explosives, and rubber and plastic products of all descriptions are just a few other examples of the many products that are made better with these versatile materials.

The benefits derived by these diverse end uses vary – some are unique to a specific industry, while others are common goals shared by many manufacturers.

This article comes from pcimag edit released

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a composite of a hollow glass microsphere and a polymer with modifiable properties to produce enhanced products. The novel properties are produced in the composite by novel interactions of the components. The hollow glass microsphere and polymer composite materials are a unique combination of a hollow glass microsphere typically particulate components and a polymer material that optimizes the composite structure and characteristics through blending the combined polymer and hollow glass micros to 90% of the base polymer materials to achieve true composite properties.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a composite of a hollow glass microsphere and a polymer having improved and novel properties methods of making and applications of the materials. The material of the invention is provided through a selection of non metallic, hollow glass microsphere particle specie, particle size (Ps) distribution, molecular weight, and viscoelastic character and processing conditions. The particles have a specific and novel particle morphology that cooperates with the components of the invention to provide the needed properties to the composite. The material attains adjustable chemical/physical properties through hollow glass microsphere selection and polymer selection.

DETAILED DISCUSSION OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to novel composites made by combining a hollow glass microsphere particulate with a polymer to achieve novel physical electrical surface and viscoelastic properties. A hollow glass microsphere particulate having a particle size ranging from about 10 microns to about 1,500 microns can be used in the invention. The maximum size is such that the particle size (Ps) of the particle is less than 20% of either the least dimension or the thinnest part under stress in an end use article. Such particles can be substantially hollow and spherical.

Both thermoplastic and thermosetting resins can be used in the invention. Such resins are discussed in more detail below. In the case of thermoplastic resins, the composites are specifically formed by blending the particulate and interfacial modifier with thermoplastic and then forming the material into a finished composite. Thermosetting composites are made by combining the particulate and interfacial modifier with an uncured material and then curing the material into a finished composite.

This article comes from justia edit released

The objective of this work is to improve the structural characteristics of hollow glass microsphere filled epoxy syntactic foam composites with little voids content and improved hollow glass microsphere dispersion in the composite.

A modified degassing technique has been introduced during resin casting process of the hollow glass microsphere filled syntactic foam composites. The effect of hollow glass microsphere content volume fractions (5–25%) on the degassing techniques was examined. The syntactic foam composites were characterized by analysing structural morphology using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy(TEM), and density measurements (theoretical and experimental).

Less than 5% void content has been achieved in this study. This resulted in improved tensile and dynamic mechanical properties (DMA).

This article comes from degruyter edit released

Hollow glass microspheres, also called microballoons, are the most versatile. To the naked eye, the small, hollow spheres appear like fine powder. Ranging from 12 to 300 µm in diameter (by comparison, a human hair is approximately 75 µm in diameter), hollow glass microspheres pack a lot of functionality into a very small package.

Integrated the hollow glass microsphere into composite parts, they provide a variety of product enhancements and process improvements — including low density, improved dimensional stability, increased impact strength, smoother surface finish, greater thermal insulation, easier machinability, faster cycle times, and cost savings.

Composite manufacturers, already adept at making the most of their materials, regularly exploit these benefits — sometimes all at once.

This article comes from compositesworld edit released