Reichhold Introduces Vinyl Hybrid Resins for Composite Applications

Reichhold, who has enjoyed a long history of innovation, recently introduced a ground breaking technology based on its proprietary vinyl hybrid resin chemistry for advanced composite applications. The products include ADVALITE™ VINYL HYBRIDS liquid and ADVALITE™ VINYL HYBRIDS hot melt prepreg resins. The hot melt resins are monomer free and the liquid resins are styrene free and typically do not contain reactive diluents. According to Alberto Piccinotti, Vice President Sales and Technology Europe, “Reichhold’s ADVALITE™ VINYL HYBRIDS resin technology is providing significant value by helping customers in the automotive and aerospace industries to generate solutions requiring performance and cost advantages over conventional epoxy solutions.  The ADVALITE™ VINYL HYBRIDS technology is experiencing strong demand because it offers superior performance in hot/wet Tg, prepreg out life, cure rate, low exotherm and overall total cost.” The ADVALITE™ vinyl hybridS liquid and hot melt prepreg resins exhibit excellent mechanical properties and temperature resistance up to 200ºC. These resins are cured using standard free radical inhibitors and initiators. This allows significant processing advantages as compared to epoxy resins.  The low exotherm of the resins allow for rapid curing of thick laminates without cracking.  The resins also exhibit excellent retention of hot/wet Tg properties. The ADVALITE™ VINYL HYBRIDS liquid resins can be used in RTM, infusion, filament winding, liquid molding and pultrusion processes.  The ADVALITE™ VINYL HYBRIDS hot melt prepreg resins can be either directly coated or adhesive filmed for fiber impregnation.  The free radical cure mechanism allows for extended room temperature storage while delivering snap cures at elevated temperatures.  When compared to epoxy resins ADVALITE™ VINYL HYBRIDS rapid rate of cure permits significantly reduced production cycle times.  Additionally, in automotive headspace testing the cured laminate was demonstrated to be VOC-free.  The resin properties can be tailored to meet processor’s individual specifications and characteristics.  Several current automotive applications are in production and a specialty system for composite radomes has been developed.