maxit ecosphere | Technology with hollow glass microspheres

Lightweight, stable and ecological with hollow glass microspheres


The topic of ecology has become even more important to consumers in recent years. Increasingly better insulated houses and the growing attention to products of natural origin are leading the way. Mineral building materials are therefore also in particular demand in the area of façade and interior insulation.

We present a completely new solution with the ecosphere insulation system with hollow glass microspheres. It is the outcome of a long-standing research project: supported by federal funds and in close cooperation with the University of Bayreuth, the Finger Institute for Building Material Science at the University of Weimar (FIB) and the company 3M (Minnesota), the building material technology was developed to meet modern requirements. maxit ecosphere is based on nature’s example. Nature has optimised structures over millions of years and now avoids any form of oversizing. This can be seen, for example, in the structure of human bones: These consist of ideal, multicellular pore structures. These guarantee the flawless function of the tissue and simultaneously save resources.

This was the credo behind the development of the ecosphere insulation material: optimal technical parameters coupled with the conservation of resources. The secret behind ecosphere is the hollow glass microspheres: tiny vacuum hollow glass microspheres, called glass bubbles, are used instead of sand or other light materials. This is a major advantage in the face of an ever increasing scarcity of resources. The new insulation material is not only purely mineral, but also completely recyclable. Thanks to the hollow glass microspheres, the use of building sand can also be avoided. In addition, ecosphere is classified as "non-combustible " (A1).

The new building material technology will find its first application from 2019 in sprayable mortar-based interior and exterior insulation.  

maxit breaks new ground with hollow glass microspheres

ecsophere technology based on hollow glass microspheres is the result of many years of research. Supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, maxit (Azendorf) has developed the ecosphere insulation system, a completely new generation of building materials that successfully combines innovative glass and mortar technologies.

maxit ecosphere | Technologie Knochenstruktur

Multicellular pore structure of the human bone

In developing ecosphere, maxit was guided by the example of nature, which always avoids oversizing. Optimised over millions of years, the natural bone structure follows the tried and tested principle: as little as possible, as much as necessary! The ideal, multicellular pore structure gives the bone its enormous load-bearing capacity – the resulting cavities save on resources and at the same time ensure that it is lightweight.

Glass as the key to success

In ecosphere technology, hollow glass microspheres imitate this concept and give the mineral spray insulation its outstanding technical properties. In addition to their high compressive strength and good rheological properties, the microscopic vacuum glass bubbles also boast special thermal insulation properties. This makes it the ideal additive for heat-insulating products.