Microcellular plastic

Microcellular plastics, otherwise known as microcellular foam, is a form of manufactured plastic, specially fabricated to contain billions of tiny bubbles less than 50 microns in size (typically from 0.1 to 100 micrometers). This type of plastic is formed by dissolving gas under high pressure into various polymers, relying on the "thermodynamic instability phenomena" to cause the uniform arrangement of the gas bubbles, otherwise known as nucleation. Its main purpose was to reduce material usage while maintaining valuable mechanical properties. The main room for variance in these foams is the gas used to create them; the density of the finished product is determined by the gas used. Depending on the gas used, the density of the foam can lie between 5% and 99% that of the pre-processed plastic. Design parameters, focused more on the final form of the foam and the molding process afterward, include the type of die or mold to be used, as well as the dimensions of the bubbles, or cells, that classify this material as a foam. Since the size of cells is close to the wavelength of light, to the casual observer this foam retains the appearance of a solid light colored plastic.