General description
- The Hollow Microspheres are inert, hollow particles made mainly of silicon, alumina and boron-silicate soda lime, which inside their core contain inert gas (e.g. nitrogen) or carbon dioxide.
- They are the ideal lightweight fillers as they provide the lowest surface-to-volume ratio of any size. This fact results in the need for less resin and any binder in general, which allows for preparations with high filling loads, lower viscosity and reduced VOCs compared to other irregularly shaped fillers.
- Hollow microspheres are used in a wide variety of materials, from paints and finishes to plastics and sealants. Although very successful in cementitious applications, their use is not widely known.
Basic features
Lightweight composition
Lightweight applications that result in the reduction of total weight of vessel (e.g. marine use).
Improved flow and workability
Flowability and workability characteristics are desirable in applications of end products for marine coatings as well as during manufacturing process of cementitious building materials.
High melting point
Some types of hollow microspheres are formed in heat up to 1400-1500 oC, resulting in an extremely temperature durable outer surface.
Basic applications
Hollow microspheres as an Improvement of workability
As they are very small spherical particles, they behave like tiny bearings inside the matrix. Thus, adding hollow microspheres into a conventional mixture can improve workability.
In Paints and Coatings
When hollow microspheres are used in coatings or other composite materials, they give special mechanical and thermal insulating properties both to coatings or architectural paint applications and to other industrial coatings.
Advantage in production process
Their uniformed spherical shape offers a smaller surface area than other irregular ordinary fillers, resulting in lower resin use. Also, the ability to rotate between them has minor effect on the viscosity of a liquid as opposed to the usual irregular fillers.
Use as a thermal insulation material
The trapped air and inert gas in the cavity of the hollow spheres is a heat insulator. Thus, hollow spheres act as heat insulators and can be used as a thermal insulation material in coatings.
Other applications of Hollow Microspheres
- Side walls and fronts (façade) of houses and buildings, hotels, hospitals, offices, control towers, construction sites and similar constructions.
- Insulation in air conditioning, steam systems, hot water pipes, boilers.
- Outer storage of crude oil, chemicals, solvents, gas, oil, petrochemicals.
- Wheat silage, refrigeration chambers, refrigerators.
- Exterior roofs of transport vehicles, railway trains and passenger buses.
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