Driven by increasing demands to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, automakers worldwide are in a race to find new ways for improving the fuel efficiency of passenger cars and trucks. Along with more aerodynamic designs and incremental improvements to internal combustion engines, one of the key strategies automakers are employing to meet efficiency targets is weight reduction. This has led to extensive research into new materials that are lighter in weight without compromising performance.
For example, automotive plastics have been extensively used for years to replace metal parts, shaving hundreds of pounds of weight. This represents a significant improvement: according to the US Department of Energy, “...for every 10% of weight eliminated from a vehicle’s total weight, fuel economy improves by 7%.”
Today, research is focusing on new, low-density plastics compounds that reduce part weight even further, while maintaining an acceptable balance of performance and processing characteristics. Glass microspheres are inert spherical fillers, compatible with most polymers. They have long been relied upon as density reducing additives in a wide range of thermoplastics, composites and elastomers.