Patent ID: 9643876
Date: 2017-05-09
CPC Classifications: C03B,C03C,C04B,C08K,Y02P

Claim:
1. A method of manufacturing a plurality of expanded microspheres, comprising: mixing a plurality of solid particles, at least one binding material capable of binding the plurality of solid particles, and a plurality of reactive expansion components into a batch; forming a plurality of agglomerated particles from the batch; heating the plurality of agglomerated particles in an expansion equipment to above a softening temperature of at least a portion of the plurality of agglomerated particles and activating the plurality of reactive expansion components to form a plurality of intermediate expanded microspheres; and forming a gas and expanding the plurality of intermediate expanded microspheres into the plurality of expanded microspheres; wherein the step of activating the plurality of reactive expansion components occurring independently from a chemical composition of an atmosphere surrounding the plurality of agglomerated particles inside the expansion equipment, and the plurality of manufactured expanded microspheres comprising: a structure comprising a plurality of walls and a surface layer, the plurality of walls defining a plurality of closed pores and a plurality of open pores, the surface layer enclosing the plurality of closed pores and the plurality of open pores within the expanded microsphere, wherein each closed pore of said plurality of closed pores being completely surrounded by the plurality of walls, wherein each open pore of said plurality of open pores being surrounded partially by at least one of the plurality of walls and the surface layer, wherein the plurality of walls and the surface layer comprise a glass, wherein the surface layer comprising a plurality of perforations, and wherein the glass comprising at least one of a sulfide and ferrous iron.