Glass flake, first produced commercially around 60 years ago, has been used for a number of years to reduce gas and moisture vapor diffusion through coating films. However, advances in glass flake production have allowed thinner and more consistent flakes to be produced, and this has led to investigative work into the properties that can be attained using glass flake reinforcement.
Glass flake looks like microscopic pieces of broken window pane. The high aspect ratio of flakes, compared to fibers or granular fillers, imparts unique properties to materials to which they are added. Care has to be taken in choosing the addition level and size distribution to obtain the required result and for the optimization of a particular characteristic.