3M™ Glass Bubbles are hollow glass microspheres with a high strength to density ratio. Lightweight but with a high compressive strength for processing survival. Potential enhancements include high volume filler loading, reduced warpage/shrinkage, improved processability and more.
3M glass bubbles offer a variety of products with a variety of size, strength and densities. Their low density and high strength make them ideal additives for many thermoplastic and thermoset parts in a wide range of end-user markets including automotive, truck, OTR, aerospace, construction, electronics, and for use in caulk, grout, adhesives, cryogenics – the list goes on and on. Not only can they help reduce weight, but they can also help improve dimensional stability and increase processing throughput.
Features
- Spherical shape
- Average particle sizes range from 17 to 65 microns, and s.g. 0.6 to 0.12 kg/m3
- Inert fine particles
- Made from specially formulated water and chemical resistant glass.
Advantages
- Reduced resin demand
- Low thermal conductivity
- High strength to weight ratio
- Chemically stable soda-lime borosilicate glass.
Benefits
- Lower viscosity
- Improved flow
- Weight reduction
- Survives processing
- Easy to disperse
- Can increase insulative properties.
Typical Applications
- Paints & Coatings
- Construction Materials
- Injection Molded & Extruded Polymers
- Cast Thermoplastic and Thermoset Polymers
- Potting Compounds
- Spray-up/Lay-up
- Syntactic Foam
- Sealants.
Document Downloads
3M™ Microspheres Selection Guide (PDF, 339 Kb)
Glass Bubbles K and S Series Product Information (PDF, 113 Kb)
3M™ Glass Microspheres Floated Product Series Product Information (PDF, 36 Kb)
Microsphere Application Guide (PDF, 863 Kb)
Glass Bubbles for Resin Systems Information (PDF, 1.1 Mb)
Glass Bubbles for Automotive Brochure (PDF, 615 Kb)
To discuss how you can benefit from using 3M™ Glass Bubbles contact us today.
