Glass microspheres, also known as glass beads, have been used for at least 100 years, with solid glass beads being manufactured in New York as far back as 1914. In 1922 large quantities of high refractive-index glass beads were produced to coat movie screens. Hollow glass microsphere technology was developed in 1950s as an outgrowth of manufacture of solid glass beads.  Since that time, many industries have relied on solid and hollow glass microspheres as a key component in their products and processes. Initially used primarily as a filler for plastics in the 1960s, glass microspheres found thousands of applications in many industries including: aerospace and military materials, molded plastic components, retroreflective highway signs, oil and gas, recreation, paints and coatings, transportation, construction, mining explosives, personal care products, cosmetics, consumer goods, and more.

In recent years, most of the growth and innovation in the use of glass micropsheres came from biomedical, life sciences, microscopy, high-tech equipment, calibration, instrumentation, and specialty applications. This market fuels the demand for precision glass microspheres with even higher sphericity, tighter tolerances, and narrower particle size distributions.

For scholarly articles involving our glass spheres see our Research with Glass Microspheres page.


Products 1-23 of 23
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Bondline Spacer Spheres - Monodisperse Solid Soda Lime Microspheres - Calibration Grade Beads
Item #: S-SLGMS -
Price: $168.40-$635.09
Item #: S-SLGMS - View

Bondline spacer grade solid soda lime glass microspheres are available with tight particle size ranges to achieve bondline thickness (gap) from 10micron (0.01mm) to 500micron (0.5mm). Bondline... [more info...]

Bulk Grades of Solid Soda Lime Glass Microspheres 2.5g/cc. Optional Fluorochemical and Silane Coatings.<br>Mean Diameters 3-6um, 8-12um, 35-45um, 65-75um.
Item #: P2000 -
Price: $66.72-$223.24
Item #: P2000 - View

P2011SL: Median diameter (D50) between 3 and 6 micron, with a top size of 20 micron. P2015SL: Median diameter (D50) between 8 and 12 micron, with a top size of 36 micron. P2020SL: Median diameter... [more info...]

Retroreflective Half-Shell Aluminum Coated Solid Glass Microspheres
Item #: P2453BTA -
Price: $133.37-$714.64
Item #: P2453BTA - View

The spheres are offered in dry powder form with the following coating options: Uncoated - no surface treatment Silane Coating (S2) - for improved dispersion in aqueous systems (~76 degree contact... [more info...]

Borosilicate Solid Glass Microspheres 2.2g/cc<br>Many Sizes 20micron to 6150mm
Item #: BSGMS -
Price: $67.36-$402.80
Item #: BSGMS - View

Solid borosilicate glass microspheres are available in a large variety of particle size ranges from 10um to 6150um. Microspheres are supplied as a dry powder. [more info...]

Barium Titanate Solid Glass Microspheres and Spheres
Item #: BTGMS -
Price: $67.36-$1,148.30
Item #: BTGMS - View

Barium Titanate glass spheres offer a higher Refractive Index (n) than most other glass formulations. Depending on the grade of material, reflecting index of Barium Titanate glass is between 1.9 to... [more info...]

Precision Polished Soda Lime Glass Spheres - Calibration Glass Spheres - Reference Polished Glass Particles
Item #: P-SLGS -
Price: $60.62-$635.09
Item #: P-SLGS - View

Diameter Tolerance: ±20um Roundness/Sphericity: ≤20um; >99% (Ratio of Width/Length) Density: 2.5g/cc+/-0.1g/cc Index of Refraction: 1.5284 Softening Temperature: 718°C Melting Point: 1445°C... [more info...]

Conductive Silver Metal Coated Hollow Glass Microspheres
Item #: HGMS-AG -
Price: $133.37-$1,995.15
Item #: HGMS-AG - View

Conductive hollow glass microspheres have low particle densities and so provide a significant weight reduction when used in place of conventional conductive fillers such as solid silver particles. A... [more info...]

Conductive Silver-Coated Glass Microspheres, Beads, Particles
Item #: SLGMS-AG -
Price: $133.03-$334.87
Item #: SLGMS-AG - View

Also see: Other Conductive Spheres: Conductive Silver Metal Coated Microspheres Other Soda Lime Spheres: Solid Soda Lime Glass Spheres and Microspheres ... [more info...]

Bondline Spacer Spheres - Monodisperse Solid Borosilicate Glass Microspheres - Calibration Grade Glass Beads
Item #: S-BSGMS -
Price: $403.51
Item #: S-BSGMS - View

Bondline spacer grade solid borosilicate glass microspheres are available with tight particle size ranges to achieve bondline thickness (gap) from 87micron to 197micron (0.2mm). Bondline spacers are... [more info...]

Aluminum-Coated Solid Barium Titanate Glass Microspheres 4.2g/cc - 30-100um Diameter
Item #: BTGMS-Al -
Price: $168.40
Item #: BTGMS-Al - View

Physical Characteristics: Coating: Fully Aluminum Coated (~500nm thickness) Core: Solid Barium Titanate Glass Spheres Density: ~4.2g/cc Appearance: Grey powder [more info...]

Glass is a natural sustainable material. Glass is “generally recognized as safe” by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It is 100% recyclable and can be reused with no loss in quality or purity in most applications.