Foamed Epoxy Resin Cube

Our one hundred and sixty-something cubes have all been specially made to have the same form and dimensions (40mm²). These four centimetre cubes, made in a multitude of different materials, are one of the stalwarts of the Materials Library, with a long and rich history. The cubes started their life back in the mid-2000s as one of the first sets of specially made objects for our Director Zoe’s PhD, which she used to explore people’s experiences of the density of materials as varied as tungsten, jelly and balsa wood. These cubes are used to encourage our members to think critically about how the materials they choose for their work might impact on people’s sensory and aesthetic experiences of everyday objects.

This particular cube is a foamed epoxy resin. Unlike many of our other foam cubes, which have been cut from foam sheet, this epoxy foam is usually bought as a two- or three-part liquid that is prepared by adding curing and foaming agents to an epoxy resin matrix. This liquid can then be poured or injected directly where you need it, and a chemical reaction between the constituent ingredients creates an expanding foam that fills voids with even complex geometries. The resulting rigid, lightweight, strong and thermally insulating core material is often used inside aircraft wings, car door panels and boat hulls.

The density, thermal insulation and other properties of epoxy foams can be tweaked by changing the size and distribution of the bubbles inside the resin matrix: either by mechanically mixing or pressurising the liquid epoxy, or by using different resins, foaming agents and fillers like hollow glass and plastic microspheres.