Reduced density hollow glass microsphere polymer composite

1. A melt processing method of manufacturing a hollow glass microsphere and polymer composite from a mixture, said method comprising:

(a) pre-treating a hollow glass microsphere with an effective composite forming amount of an interfacial modifier coating; wherein the interfacial modifier is free of a coupling agent; and wherein the hollow glass microsphere has a particle size of at least about 5 microns;

(b) combining a thermoplastic polymer phase with about 30 to 95 volume % of the pre-treated interfacial modifier coated hollow glass microsphere, in an amount that can substantially occupy excluded volume of a hollow glass microsphere particle distribution in the composite; and

(c) melt process compounding the mixture to form the composite comprising the pre-treated hollow glass microspheres within the thermoplastic polymer phase;

wherein the hollow glass microsphere exhibits a circularity greater than 13 and an aspect ratio less than 1:3; and wherein the interfacial modifier coating allows for greater freedom of movement between the pre-treated hollow glass microsphere within the polymer phase compared to the same composite without the interfacial modifier coating on the hollow glass microsphere, when measured under the same conditions.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein about 40 to 70 volume % of the hollow glass microsphere composite comprises the thermoplastic polymer phase.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the composite comprises about 0.02 to 3 wt.-% of the interfacial modifier.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the thermoplastic polymer phase has a density of about 0.86 gm-cm −3 .

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composite has a density of about 0.4 to 5 gm-cm −3 .

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the composite additionally comprises a solid particulate or a fiber, the particulate having a particle size (P s ) of about 5 to 1000 microns and the fiber having an aspect ratio of greater than 10.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein after compounding, the method includes extruding the composite.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the thermoplastic polymer phase comprises a polyamide, poly (ethylene-co-vinyl acetate), a synthetic rubber, a polyvinyl chloride, a fluoropolymer, a polyolefin, a thermoset polymer.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said melt processing comprises injection molding the composite.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said melt processing comprises compression molding the composite.

11. The composite of claim 1 wherein the composite has a tensile strength of about 0.1 to 10 times that of the thermoplastic polymer phase.

12. The composite of claim 1 wherein the composite has a tensile elongation of about 15% to 90% of the thermoplastic polymer phase.

13. The composite of claim 1 wherein the composite has a thermoplastic shear at least about 5 sec −1 .

14. The composite formulation of claim 1 wherein the composite has a tensile strength of at least 0.2 MPa and a thermoplastic shear of at least 5 sec −1 .

15. The composite of claim 1 wherein the hollow glass microsphere has a particle size P S of about 5 to 300 microns.