EXPANCEL® microspheres are small spherical plastic particles. The microspheres consist of a polymer shell encapsulating a gas. When the gas inside the shell is heated, it increases its pressure and the thermoplastic shell softens, resulting in a dramatic increase in the volume of the microspheres. When fully expanded, the volume of the microspheres increases more than 40 times.
The product range includes both unexpanded and expanded microspheres. Unexpanded microspheres are used as blowing agents in many areas such as printing inks, paper, textiles, polyurethanes, PVC-plastics and more. The expanded microspheres are used as lightweight fillers in various applications.

Click on this link for a short animated demonstration
Illustrating what happens when EXPANCEL® microspheres are heated.

For a quicktime movie click here