Applications

The FRILITE^® microspheres find use in many different applications like foundry, refractory, paints, coatings and many more.

Bituminous Products and Polymer-based Sealants

Thanks to their lightweight, mineral hollow microspheres are important in bituminous products and polymer-based sealants in cases where larger surface areas or thicker layers are to be applied or larger volumes of the sealing agent have to be moved. With FRILITE^® microspheres the density of a bitumen- or polymer-based sealant compound can be considerably reduced – and thus can the costs. In less demanding environments, the FRILITE^® P-Series moreover offer the unique advantage of being customizable with exactly the right mechanical stability to withstand both, the manufacturing process and the requirements of the application, but at the same time they are as light (and inexpensive) as possible.

Construction Chemicals

Concrete structure is designed with a trowel

The FRILITE^® Group differentiates between construction materials (give buildings basic shape and structure) and construction chemicals (used for connection, protection, sealing, etc.). As construction chemical products are mainly used in thin layers focusing on shape, mechanical strength and weight saving, the finest grades of FRILITE® hollow microspheres are the best choice. Already a relatively low mass fraction in a formulation can make a huge difference. The FRILITE^® Group, as one of the few suppliers of hollow mineral microspheres, offers different types and grades (e.g. d10 and d90 values) to formulators in order to meet all standard requirements. The microspheres can also be produced with Topcut.

Construction Materials

Construction materials are one of the largest and most important areas of application for the FRILITE^® P-Series. Conventionally expanded perlite has been used in construction materials for many years because of weight reduction or insulation purposes. However, conventionally expanded perlite never became widely accepted in construction materials due to the sensitivity of the material to mechanical stress in the mixing and applying processes and because of its undesirable absorbency. The FRILITE^® P-Series, however, offers all these needed characteristics and more thanks to their glazed, closed-cell surface.

Foundry and Refractory

$Refractory and Foundry$

As FRILITE^® cenospheres are products of high temperature processes (actually a by-product of the coal combustion process in power plants at up to 1500°C), it is obvious that FRILITE^® cenospheres can withstand extremely demanding conditions in high temperatures applications like in refractory materials and especially in the steel and iron foundry industry. It is a combination of the many positive features that make FRILITE^® cenospheres so beneficial in all formulas of precast shapes (like bricks, castables, feeders and risers) for these high temperature applications.

Gas and Oil Field Applications

The FRILITE® cenospheres offer many advantages for gas and oil field applications, especially for reducing and controlling bottom hole pressure.

Miscellaneous

The FRILITE® microspheres unfold their unique properties in many more applications like fire protection, sandblasting or friction linings.

Paints and Coatings

The finest grades of FRILITE^® microspheres are the best choice for paints and coatings, which are usually applied in thin layers. The FRILITE^® microspheres, cenospheres and perlite spheres offer the formulator a wide range of types and grades for the ideal formulation of new and ground-breaking paints or coatings with outstanding properties for a wide range of applications.

Personal Care

Inertness and gentle abrasion allows FRILITE^® microspheres to be used as natural peeling agent and also as an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic microbeads.

Plastics, Polymers and Composites

Ever since the Club of Rome published “The Limits to Growth” in the early 1970’s, the main target of any researcher and product designer has been to create products reducing the resource consumption. In addition, reducing weight of moveable assets became very important – which lead to the “start” of polymer chemistry about 100 years ago. World production of plastics grew from 10 mio tons in 1950 to more than 380 mio tons nowadays. In order to not only create lighter products, but also to save resources and raw materials, mineral microspheres can be used as light fillers in plastics, polymers, and composites, as they are compatible with plastisols, thermoplastics, Latex, polyesters, epoxies, phenolic resins and urethanes. As you can see, there is no limit to developing new and advanced products by formulating polymers with mineral microspheres.

Stucco and Board Elements

Front of an old house Low density which supports low thermal conductivity allows FRILITE^® microspheres to be used as filler in decorative elements, stucco, insulation panels and dry wall board systems.