About 3M™ Glass Bubbles

3M™ Glass Bubbles are high strength, low density engineered additives used in applications from thermoplastics, thermosets, and sheet- or bulk-molded composites to structural foams and elastomers. Manufacturers use 3M glass bubbles for their ability to help reduce weight, improve dimensional stability, improve processing, enhance surface appearance, reduce overall material costs and much more.

The History of 3M™ Glass Bubbles

Invented in 1960 and introduced to the industrial marketplace in 1961, 3M glass bubbles were first used in drywall seam sealers, mining explosives and furniture. Since then, manufacturers all over the world have expanded the use of these almost magical hollow glass microspheres into hundreds of applications in diverse markets, including oil and gas, recreation, paints and coatings, transportation, construction, mining explosives, and consumer products.

Today, the product line ranges from the K1 glass bubble—with a density of 0.125 g/cc, a crush strength of 250 psi and an average particle size of 65 microns—to the industry’s smallest and strongest glass bubble, iM30K, which has a density of 0.60 g/cc, a crush strength of 28,000 psi and an average particle size of 16 microns.

3M glass bubbles are made in the U.S., France and Korea.

Composition

3M™ Glass Bubbles are made from water-resistant and chemically stable soda-lime borosilicate glass, similar to the material used to make laboratory beakers. The bubbles can be treated with a variety of functional coatings to further enhance their performance in several resin systems.