Synthesis and characterization of hollow glass–ceramics microspheres

Hollow glass–ceramics microspheres (HGCM), with the diameter from 10 μm to 60 μm and the shell thickness less than 2 μm, were successfully fabricated by a simple technique using polyacrylamide microspheres (PAM) as template. The corresponding HGCM were obtained by a thermal treatment of the core–shell microspheres, which were synthesized with organic template method. The size, morphology and phase composition of synthesized products were determined via XRD, SEM, TGA. The effects of the amount of glass powder, the Hydrophile–Lipophile Balance (HLB) value, the sintering temperature, and the ratios of pre-adsorbed water and the water in the slurry on the morphologies of HGCM have been investigated. The results showed that the agglomeration of HGCM can be reduced by adjusting the HLB value. In addition, the amount of solid beads decreases obviously by reducing ratios and adjusting the HLB value. As the sintering temperature increases, the surface of the HGCM becomes smooth and compact.