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How Broadview Technologies Enhances Filament Winding

Broadview Technologies’ products, materials, and engineering capabilities directly enhance filament winding performance.

Filament winding is one of the most precise and efficient ways to manufacture high‑strength composite structures, and it’s a core capability behind many of Broadview Technologies’ advanced composite solutions. In this automated process, continuous reinforcing fibers are coated with resin and wound around a rotating mandrel in controlled geometric patterns, producing exceptionally strong, lightweight, and repeatable composite components.

Broadview Technologies supports this process not only through high‑performance materials but also through engineered resin systems and process‑enhancing additives that improve consistency, durability, and manufacturability. These innovations help manufacturers achieve higher strength‑to‑weight ratios, better moisture resistance, and more predictable performance across pressure vessels, pipes, tanks, electrical components, and structural products.

How the Filament Winding Process Works And How It’s Improved by Broadview Technologies

Fiber Delivery and Tension Control

Dry fibers such as glass, carbon, or aramid are pulled from spools and passed through resin baths and tensioners and then laid down on a rotating mandrel. Proper tension is critical because if it’s too low the result will be loose laminate and voids. If tension is too high, the fiber will be damaged or distorted and there may be excessive resin run out.

Broadview enhances this stage via viscosity control, defoamers and improved wet out. These improvements help manufacturers maintain consistent tension, minimize fiber damage and improve wet out all of which directly affects product quality and mechanical performance.

Resin Impregnation

There are two resin‑application methods: wet winding and prepreg winding. Wet winding allows precise control of resin content, while prepreg winding offers cleaner handling and highly consistent resin distribution.

Broadview Technologies specializes in lower cost wet winding. Broadview offers a range of products that allows the winders to achieve the temperature, strength and hot water resistance required. Also, the correct choice of Broadview product can greatly improve fracture toughness without compromising the operating temperature. These resin systems can ensure better fiber wet‑out, reduced void content, and improved mechanical properties.

Curing

Typical cure temperatures run from 80-180°C, with cycles lasting 2–8 hours depending on resin type and thickness. Broadview’s curing technologies include fast‑cure resin systems that shorten cycle times, high‑temperature,hot water resistant epoxy systems for demanding down hole applications, and additives that improve thermal stability and reduce microcracking. These result in stronger, more reliable composite structures with improved long‑term performance.

Mandrel Removal & Finishing

Broadview supports this stage with internal release agents that minimize sticking and reduce surface defects. If parts are to be machined Broadview provides tougheners that make machining easier with less chipping. For outdoor above ground applications Broadview offers products that resist UV light damage.

Common Winding Patterns Can Be Enabled by Better Materials

The fiber angle is the most important design variable because it determines how the finished part handles stress. Broadview’s superior fiber wet out and resin systems help manufacturers achieve optimal performance across all winding patterns:

Material Selection: How Broadview Improves Resins

For resin systems, Broadview Technologies creates epoxy systems with superior bonding and mechanical strength. Broadview combines cycloaliphatic and Bis A resins with tougheners that do not lower the Tg. Each resin is engineered for filament winding’s unique end use, flow, wet‑out, and cure requirements.

Key Process Variables That Are Optimized Through Broadview Technologies

Our products improve critical variables such as fiber, tension, wall thickness, and resin‑to‑fiber ratio. This is done by a combination of viscosity improvement and wetting agents. For wall thickness, Broadview’s resins and curing agents work to minimize shrinkage and lower exotherms.

Applications Strengthened by Broadview Technologies

Broadview’s products enhance applications such as pressure vessels, pipes, tanks, electrical components, and structural products, including:

High‑pressure epoxy systems for CNG and hydrogen tanks
Corrosion‑resistant down hole fracking plugs
Electrical‑grade resins for insulators and bushings
High‑stiffness carbon fiber systems for drive shafts and structural beams

Why Manufacturers Choose Filament Winding And Why They Choose Broadview

Broadview amplifies high strength‑to‑weight ratio, corrosion resistance, repeatability and customizable performance through:

Materials engineered specifically for filament winding
Consistent resin chemistry for repeatable production for predictable mechanical performance
Additives that improve durability, chemical resistance, machinability, and long‑term stability

Stronger, Lighter And More Reliable Products

Filament winding is a cornerstone manufacturing method for high‑performance composite structures. With Broadview Technologies’ advanced resin and curing agent systems, and process‑enhancing materials, manufacturers can achieve higher strength, better durability, improved repeatability, and more customizable performance than ever before.

Broadview is committed to supporting composite manufacturers with materials engineered specifically for filament winding, helping them build stronger, lighter and more reliable products across every major application.

How Trimellitic Anhydride Enhances Material Performance in Harsh Environments

Trimellitic Anhydride, or TMA, is one of those chemical building blocks that doesn’t get much attention outside the industry, but it plays an outsized role in making materials that hold up under tough conditions. The compound itself is a white solid that comes in granular form. It has a molecular weight of 192.1 and a melting point above 166°C.

What makes it useful is its structure: one aromatic ring with an attached cyclic anhydride group and one free carboxylic acid group. That trifunctional architecture gives it capabilities that other anhydrides simply can’t match.

What Trimellitic Anhydride Does

Trimellitic anhydride serves primarily as an intermediate in the production of several different material families. It is used in powder coatings, as a building block for the production of non-phthalate plasticizers, in the synthesis of high performance polyester resins and polyimide-imide resins. In all of these applications TMA enhances the polymers ability to withstand high temperatures and hot wet conditions. It also shows as an epoxy curing agent.

The common thread across these applications is performance enhancement. When manufacturers incorporate TMA into their formulations, they get materials with better thermal stability. They also get lower smoke generation and improved water resistance compared to products made without it. Plasticizers and lubricants benefit especially from TMA in their synthesis.

The unique trifunctionality of Trimellitic Anhydride delivers higher cross-link density in derived polymers compared to difunctional alternatives like phthalic anhydride. This means sustained performance at temperatures of 200°C and above. TMA-based plasticizers (such as trioctyl trimellitate (TOTM)) enable PVC insulation to achieve UL 105°C ratings, a 30-45°C improvement over alternatives that are phthalate based.

Broadview Technologies and Trimellitic Anhydride

Broadview Technologies has been working with anhydride chemistry since 1970. The company develops and manufactures a broad range of anhydrides for curing epoxy resins, along with flexibilizers and fire retardants. TMA fits into this picture as a foundational material.

Broadview offers Polynt SpA’s trimellitic anhydride as a standalone product. The company also produces several derivative materials based on TMA chemistry. AC-32 is a dianhydride made from two TMA groups attached to an aromatic cyclic backbone. This material provides higher aromatic content to epoxy cured systems, which translates to better heat resistance, higher glass transition temperatures and lower moisture permeability. It also imparts toughness that improves vibration dampening and thermal shock resistance. It also has a much lower melt temperature as compared to TMA and AC-32 is soluble in epoxies and liquid anhydrides.

AC-3205 is a variant of AC-32. AC-M25 is a liquid anhydride blend that contains AC-32 and combines properties like high glass transition temperature, improved thermal aging, vibration dampening and high heat deflection.

What Makes Broadview’s Trimellitic Anhydride Different

The supply situation for Trimellitic Anhydride has shifted significantly in recent years. Most TMA on the global market now comes from China. Broadview Technologies takes a different approach. Their TMA is US owned and produced in Europe through their affiliation with Polynt SPA. They maintain US stock material available for customers.

This matters for a few reasons, with supply chain reliability being one factor. Having material produced in Europe and stocked in the US gives a buffer against the disruptions that can impact Asian supply chains. Product quality and consistency are another consideration because the European production operates under different regulatory frameworks and quality standards.

For customers who need TMA for demanding applications, the source of the material can have downstream effects on their own product consistency. Broadview’s approach gives them an alternative to the predominant Chinese supply.

Applications in Harsh Environments

TMA-based products excel in conditions that would degrade other materials. Polyamide-imide resins derived from TMA have glass transition temperatures exceeding 290°C. These are useful in wire enamels and insulating varnishes for high temperature applications. Polyester-imide coatings for electrical wire and cable represent another area where Trimellitic anhydride offers performance that other materials just can’t match up to.

In epoxy systems, trimellitic anhydride derivatives like AC-32 produce cured materials with low moisture permeability and good wet strength retention. This makes them suitable for applications where exposure to water, humidity or chemicals is a concern. The toughness imparted by AC-32 improves resistance to thermal cycling and mechanical stress.

Broadview’s anhydrides also serve in downhole applications for oil and gas, industrial chemical piping and other environments that involve high temperature and steam exposure.

Summary

Trimellitic anhydride isn’t a new compound, but its value continues to grow as applications demand higher performance from materials. The compound’s trifunctional structure provides thermal stability, cross-link density and moisture resistance that simpler anhydrides can’t match. Broadview Technologies offers trimellitic anhydride sourced from Europe, along with derivative products that build on TMA chemistry to address specific performance needs in demanding applications.

Download our TMA data sheet here. For more information or to request a quote, contact us.

How Anhydride Curing Mechanisms Work in Epoxy Systems

A curing agent is needed for when an epoxy resin needs to harden into a solid material. Amines are the most common choice, but in many industrial applications, formulators turn to anhydrides instead. Understanding anhydride curing mechanisms helps explain why these materials show up in everything from electrical potting compounds to high-voltage insulation.

The Basic Chemistry of Anhydride Curing

An anhydride starts as a dicarboxylic acid that has had water removed, leaving behind a ring structure. When that ring comes into contact with an epoxy resin, it opens up and reacts. This opening step needs a hydroxyl group to get started and that hydroxyl can come from the epoxy resin itself, from water in the system or from an alcohol.

Once the ring opens, a carboxyl group forms and that carboxyl immediately reacts with another epoxy group. This creates an ester linkage and generates a new hydroxyl. That new hydroxyl can then react with another anhydride ring and the cycle repeats. A new network of crosslinks is built throughout the material. This chain reaction is what turns a liquid resin into a solid part.

Why Anhydrides Behave Differently Than Amines

Amines cure epoxy through a different mechanism by adding directly across the epoxy ring without the need for an opening step. What you get is increased shrinkage and a network that acts differently under heat and in wet environments.

Anhydrides produce ester linkages instead of the amine linkages you develop in amine-cured systems, whereas esters handle heat better and do not soak up water as readily. That’s why anhydride-cured epoxies show lower dielectric loss at higher temperatures and hold up longer in conditions that are humid.

The Role of Hydroxyls and Accelerators

Anhydrides react slowly on their own. If you mix epoxy with an anhydride and nothing else, the cure might take many hours at high temperature. So in practice, manufacturers add small amounts of accelerators to speed things up. Tertiary amines are a common choice, usually at 0.5 to 3 percent by weight.

The presence of hydroxyl groups also matters. Epoxy resins made from bisphenol A naturally contain secondary hydroxyls along their backbones. Those hydroxyls help kick off the reaction. Resins with more hydroxyl content cure faster with anhydrides.

Monoanhydrides vs. Dianhydrides

Anhydrides fall into two main categories for practical use.

Mono cyclic anhydrides contain one anhydride ring. When the ring opens, that molecule becomes difunctional. Common examples include MTHPA, MHHPA and Meth-E anhydride. These are low viscosity liquids at room temperature. They produce highly crosslinked networks with good electrical properties and excellent heat resistance.

Dianhydrides contain two anhydride rings that, when both open, make the molecule tetrafunctional. Meaning a higher crosslink density and higher glass transition temperatures. AC-32 produces very stiff, heat-resistant networks with excellent hot wet strength retention. AC-32 includes a flexible bridge between the rings, giving better toughness while retaining high temperature performance. And, AC-32 is soluble in liquid anhydrides.

Practical Advantages of Anhydride Curing

Manufacturers choose anhydride curing for a few good reasons. First, low exotherm and low shrinkage means less heat builds up during cure and there is less internal stress, which protects large castings and thick walled composites from cracking. Second, you get a long pot life. The mixture stays workable for 24 hrs or more and you can add accelerators on demand when you are ready to cure.

Water resistance also improves because anhydride-cured systems pick up less moisture than amine-cured ones and electrical properties hold up better at higher temperatures. Each one of these benefits traces back to the ester linkages and high crosslink density that anhydrides produce.

High-voltage transformer with electrical insulation treated with anhydride-cured epoxies.

You will find anhydride-cured epoxies in filament-wound tubes, pultruded rods, electrical insulation for high-voltage transformers, potting compounds for ignition coils, LED encapsulation and structural composites for aerospace. Each application takes advantage of the heat resistance, electrical properties or low moisture pickup that anhydride curing provides.

Broadview Technologies offers a range of specialty anhydrides for these applications, including liquid monoanhydrides, solid dianhydrides and pre-catalyzed systems.

Spotlight on Meth/E Anhydride

Meth/E is one of Broadview Technologies’ specialty anhydrides.

What Is Meth/E Anhydride?

Meth/E is a liquid alicyclic anhydride, meaning it contains one or more carbon rings that aren’t aromatic. This structure gives it unique performance characteristics. Meth/E can be used as a standalone product or blended with other anhydrides to lower their freezing points, improving handling and processing. It has excellent electrical properties and works as an outstanding epoxy curing agent.

Key Properties of Meth/E

Outstanding electrical insulation
High-temperature performance
Low volatility and exotherm
Compatibility with solid and liquid epoxy resins
Minimal odor and low viscosity
Long pot life and easy handling

It’s less reactive than amines, and when needed, can be catalyzed to meet specific formulation requirements.

Performance as an Epoxy Curing Agent

When used to cure epoxy resins, Meth/E Anhydride imparts light color and arc resistance which is ideal for electronics.

It also has thermal stability with high glass transition and heat distortion temperatures, has minimal shrinkage during casting and excellent hardness and impact strength. These attributes make it a go-to choice for high-performance coatings and encapsulants.

Built for High-Stress Applications

Meth/E excels in demanding environments where thermal and electrical performance are critical. It’s widely used in fiber-reinforced composites for aerospace and defense, filament-wound bearings and other mechanically stressed components and electronic encapsulation.

Its bicyclic structure contributes to the durability and reliability required in these advanced applications.

Your Source for Specialty Anhydrides

Broadview Technologies has been a trusted name in material science since 1970. Explore our full range of specialty anhydrides, including Meth/E Anhydride, on our website and discover how our products can elevate your formulations.

Broadview Technologies’ Role in the Artemis II Re‑Entry Vehicle

Advancing Human Spaceflight

The successful completion of NASA’s Artemis II mission marks a defining moment in modern spaceflight. As the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years, Artemis II represents a critical step toward establishing a long‑term human presence on the Moon and enabling future crewed missions to Mars. On April 10, 2026, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen, splashed down safely off the coast of San Diego after a nearly 10‑day journey that carried them 252,756 miles from Earth at their farthest point.

Behind that safe return is a re‑entry vehicle engineered to withstand some of the most extreme thermal and mechanical environments ever encountered by humans—and Broadview Technologies is proud to have played a central role in its development.

NASA's Visualization of the Artemis II re-entry — This is NASA’s visualization of the Artemis II re-entry, showing why heat-shield coatings are critical.

A New Approach to Heat‑Shield Technology

Broadview played a key role in developing the Orion heat shield, enabling the re‑entry vehicle to withstand the extreme heat of its descent through Earth’s atmosphere. Unlike traditional heat shields that rely heavily on ceramic or glass‑based systems, Orion’s design incorporates a unique material architecture—one that includes a proprietary syntactic foam developed through Broadview’s scientific research.

Broadview scientists were instrumental in proposing the formulation approach for this syntactic foam, which became a key enabling technology for the heat shield’s performance. The material system is engineered to manage extreme thermal loads, maintain structural integrity under rapid heating, and deliver predictable ablation behavior during re‑entry. While the specific details of the formulation remain confidential, the innovation represents a significant departure from legacy systems and reflects years of advanced materials research.

Materials That Make Mission Success Possible

Several Broadview products are used within the heat‑shield system, supporting its ability to:

Withstand the intense thermal flux generated during atmospheric re‑entry
Maintain stability across rapid temperature gradients
Deliver reliable performance under high mechanical stress
Support the overall structural and thermal design of the Orion capsule

As a major supplier of these materials, Broadview has contributed not only products but also foundational scientific insight that helped shape the heat‑shield technology from its earliest stages.

A Partnership Built on Innovation

Broadview’s collaboration with NASA and its industry partners reflects the company’s long‑standing commitment to advancing material science for mission‑critical applications. The Artemis II mission demonstrates what is possible when engineering, research, and innovation converge with a shared purpose: enabling human exploration beyond Earth.

As NASA continues its path toward Artemis III and future lunar surface missions, Broadview Technologies remains committed to supporting the next generation of spacecraft materials—helping ensure that astronauts can travel farther, safer, and with greater confidence than ever before.

The Applications of Succinic Anhydrides

Broadview Technologies is a specialty manufacturer of many different types of anhydrides. Finding the right product for your application and performance requirements can seem like a daunting task–which is why we revisiting and updating our article series on the types and uses of anhydride. Our goal is to provide our expertise on a variety of different specialty anhydride products so that our customers can make informed decisions in their purchases.

In this first iteration of the series, we’ll describe the use and benefits of succinic anhydrides, as well as the applications that this particular product is best suited.

An overview of succinic anhydrides

Succinic anhydrides are organic compounds that contain a dehydrated succinic acid compound. If succinic acid sounds familiar, it’s because the acid is a precursor for many different polymers, resins, and solvents. Because of this, succinic anhydrides have seen widespread use in polymeric manufacturing, pharmaceutical development, and organic flame-retardant materials, just to name a few. Its chemical makeup also makes it an excellent curing agent for epoxy resins.

Broadview’s Succinic Anhydride Products

SAA

Broadview Technologies has developed a succinic anhydride (SAA) produced by Polynt SpA, the highest purity product, meeting all food and pharmaceutical industry requirements in addition to being certified kosher. Our succinic anhydride is typically used in pharmaceutical and specialty coating applications, but has also seen widespread use in copolymer resin manufacturing, as well as the manufacturing of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, esters, flavor and fragrance chemicals, and various adhesives. Our SAA is also a high-performance cross-linking agent in ion-exchange membranes and an excellent hardener for epoxy resins.

DDSA

Our Dodecenyl succinic anhydride (DDSA) is a unique liquid anhydride hardener for epoxy resins. This product has a low density and high mix ratio, and offers superior mechanical and electrical properties to cured epoxies compared to traditional curing agents. The final mixture results in low moisture absorption and enhanced flexibility and toughness. Because of this, it’s also been used in applications such as electrical potting compounds, syntactic foams, conductive adhesives, and other specialty coatings.

Looking for a manufacturer of specialty anhydrides?

Broadview Technologies, Inc. is an established leader in the advancement of material science and an expert chemical manufacturing and supply company. Check out our website for more information about our wide product offerings.

The Specialty Anhydride: A Versatile Curing Agent

Specialty anhydride plays a critical role in modern chemical manufacturing, serving as key raw materials in applications ranging from epoxy curing systems to plasticizers and advanced coatings. Known for enhancing chemical resistance, thermal stability, and long-term durability, these curing agents help manufacturers achieve reliable performance across demanding industrial environments.

At Broadview Technologies, we have engineered a comprehensive portfolio of specialty anhydride designed to go well beyond traditional epoxy curing. Our products are formulated for high performance, cost efficiency, extended pot life, and excellent processing stability—helping customers optimize both performance and production.

Unsaturated Anhydride

Unsaturated anhydride is particularly well suited for electrical and electronics applications. It provides excellent performance in potting and encapsulating ignition coils, high-voltage transformers, and printed circuit boards.

Their curing versatility also makes them ideal for advanced composite manufacturing processes such as epoxy filament winding, pultrusion, and resin infusion. The result is durable, high-performance components with strong electrical insulation properties and long service life.

Saturated Anhydrides

Saturated anhydrides are especially effective in applications exposed to outdoor conditions where UV stability and moisture resistance are essential. They are commonly used in LED displays, clear exterior coatings, and electrical transmission insulators.

In addition to environmental durability, Broadview’s saturated anhydride delivers crisp, clean color and long-term color retention—critical for display technologies and protective coatings that must maintain appearance and performance over time.

Polyanhydrides

Polyanhydride combines flexibility with toughness, making them well suited for flexible printed circuit boards, films, and high-performance electrical potting compounds. These materials demonstrate excellent resistance to thermal shock—even after prolonged high-temperature aging.

It also offers vibration- and noise-dampening properties similar to rubber-based materials, expanding their use in package adhesives, epoxy transfer molding, electrostatic spray coatings, and laminated paper and glass systems. Their versatility makes them a valuable solution across multiple industrial sectors.

Dianhydride

Dianhydride is most commonly used as thermal curing agents for epoxy resins. By forming highly crosslinked polymer networks, they significantly enhance abrasion resistance, heat resistance, and overall protective performance in coatings and adhesives.

Beyond liquid systems, dianhydrides are also utilized in powder coatings, electrical castings, and other applications requiring exceptional mechanical strength and thermal endurance.

Partner with a Trusted Specialty Anhydride Supplier

Broadview Technologies offers a wide selection of high-quality, low-toxicity specialty anhydrides tailored to meet the needs of diverse industries. Whether your application requires superior thermal performance, environmental resistance, or processing efficiency, our team can help you select the right formulation.

Explore the rest of our website to learn about our full product line and discover how Broadview Technologies can support your next project.

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Broadview Specialty Plasticizers: Improving Polymer Performance and Processability

Plasticizers play a crucial role when it comes to making plastics and other materials that can actually be used for manufacturing purposes. Nearly every industry uses plasticizers in order to make materials more flexible and malleable, and overall easier to shape. Without them, many of the materials used today would either be extremely difficult or even impossible to manufacture into usable products.

At Broadview Technologies, we have developed a line of specialty plasticizers in partnership with Cambridge Industries, Resoflex. Our Resoflex products offer excellent stability and flexibility for a wide range of different polymer materials, especially reusable adhesives. Here are just a few of the benefits our specialty plasticizers have to offer.

High Stability in Any Environment

All of the Resoflex plasticizers are completely saturated, ensuring excellent chemical and temperature stability. They won’t easily degrade like other plasticizers when exposed to UV light, oxygen, extreme heat or cold, or even ozone. Resoflex is not a volatile or toxic material either, and experiences no plasticizer migration, maintaining its flexibility and chemical properties in virtually any environment.

Excellent Durability

The Resoflex line offers some of the most durable, long-lasting specialty plasticizers on the market, for both indoor and outdoor applications. Resoflex resists oils, fats, grease, gasoline, in addition to UV light and extreme temperatures. Our plasticizers are water insoluble as well, offering protection against damp environments indoors and out.

Versatile Use Across Industries

Though the Resoflex specialty plasticizers were initially designed for remoistenable adhesives, they’ve been successful in a wide range of other applications as well:

Polyester Foam
Food Packaging Coatings
Nylon Coatings
Barrier Coatings for Vinyls
Leather finishes
Washable fabrics
Primers, Sealers, and Paints
Laminations

And these are just a few of the ways that the Resoflex products have been used. The Resoflex line continues to be one of the most versatile and flexible plasticizers on the market.

Get High Performance Specialty Plasticizers from Broadview Technologies and Cambridge Industries

Resoflex is the result of decades of combined experience in the material science industry, as well as the partnership between Broadview Technologies and Cambridge Industries. If you’re interested in our specialty plasticizers or any of our other products, don’t hesitate to contact us today for more information or to request a quote.

Fire Retardant Chemicals that Enhance Composite Materials from Broadview Technologies

Flame retardancy has become a characteristic with increasing importance in the world of composite materials, especially as these composites become more widely used in day-to-day consumer lives. Better flame retardancy not only protects the end-use products, but also helps to reduce fire-related accidents and improve the safety of the user and the general environment. However, traditional fire retardant chemicals are under scrutiny because they can result in highly toxic by-products and even impact the actual properties when integrated with composite materials.

Many polymers used in the making of composites burn easily when exposed to flames. So, manufacturers have turned to experts like Broadview for fire retardant chemicals that not only enhance flame retardancy without impacting the material’s properties, but also meet wider environmental and safety regulations.

Phosphorus-Based Intumescent Fire Retardant Chemicals from Broadview Technologies

Broadview Technologies has spent decades in material science research and development for some of the most demanding, high-performance applications when it comes to fire retardants and related needs. We took on the challenge of creating intumescent agents that could be used in the making of composites and resins, without impacting their end-use performance. The result was our patented INTUMAX® line of fire retardant chemicals, all of which are halogen-free and exhibit low solubility in water.

Our team has continued to improve and expand our product offerings under the INTUMAX® line, creating products that could be used in paints, potting compounds, films, laminates and a variety of different composites. All of our INTUMAX® fire retardant chemicals can be browsed over on our Data Sheets, and here are just a couple of examples of what we have to offer:

Intumax AC-2BG can be incorporated into a wide range of materials, from coatings to resin systems, extinguishing flames when exposed and preventing further spread.
Intumax PE-001 both protects the material and reduces the brittleness that tends to occur in resin systems.
Intumax AC-3WM is a water insoluble and halogen-free fire retardant chemical perfect for indoor and outdoor resin systems, as well as a variety of paints and adhesives.
Intumax DBK is a great choice for urethane adhesives, electrical potting, and non-skid coatings, being a highly-efficient fire retardant.

About Broadview Technologies

Broadview Technologies, Inc. is a leading manufacturer and supplier of specialty anhydrides, fire retardant chemicals, plasticizers, and more. If you have any questions about what we have to offer, please feel free to contact us for more information!

How Anhydrides Help Achieve High Fiber Loading in Composites

Composites are a crucial part of today’s manufacturing industry. They are used all over the world in just about every modern market imaginable due to their natural strength and durability, as well as their versatility. The biggest advantage composite materials have to offer over others however is the strength-to-weight ratio that most composite materials have to offer. And recent studies have shown that for many common composites, the higher the fiber content within the material, the stronger it will be–high fiber loading in other words. But where do anhydrides fit into this mix?

A Quick Refresher on How Composite Materials are Made

To understand how anhydrides can help improve composite strength, it is important to understand what actually goes into making a composite material. Composites are made from two or more materials with different physical and chemical properties, combined in order to enhance those properties. At their most basic, they consist of flexible fibers with high tensile strength set into a rigid matrix resin system.

Recent studies are showing that the more fiber you can pack into the composite, the higher its strength will be–but most fibers require diluents to achieve the viscosity necessary to get the system. These diluents and additives can help with achieving the right viscosity to form the composite, but everything added to the mix will lower the integrity of the resin system. Furthermore the resin system has to bond well to the fibers while simultaneously wetting them out completely.

Anhydrides offer an Alternative

Anhydrides have the properties necessary to create much higher strengths in composites. Anhydrides generally have a low viscosity coupled with a high mix ratio, making them an excellent choice for creating high fiber content composites. They are also acidic and work extremely well to bond to alkaline sizing. The anhydride also enables the resin system to supplant any surface oils and greases and penetrate into the fiber bundles.They don’t require the diluents that other materials need to achieve the right viscosities, and so will retain far better integrity in the resin system overall. Whether using glass or carbon fiber, filament winding, pultruding or RTM; Broadview’s extensive line of cyclic, bi-cyclic, aromatic and multifunctional anhydrides will provide the properties and performance you desire.

About Broadview Technologies, Inc.

Broadview Technologies is a leader in the material sciences, with a long history of developing high-performance intumescent agents, specialty anhydrides, and more. Head over to our website: broadview-tech.com to request a quote or contact us with any questions about our products.