B-Tough

B-Tough epoxy and acrylate functional toughening agents increase impact resistance in adhesives, coatings, composites, and additive manufacturing applications, allowing for the formulation of resin systems with enhanced flexibility whilst maintaining hardness.

Overcome the limitations of traditionally brittle resins!

Epoxy resins are used because of their beneficial properties that include:

Ease of use (good flow, fast cure)
Strong adhesion
Chemical resistance
Heat resistance
Electrically insulating

These specialized properties make the resins ideal for use in applications such as high-performance structural adhesives, potting of electronics, durable outdoor coatings, heavy-duty protective coatings and strong floor coatings.

However, due to their rigid structure, epoxies and acrylics can also be prone to cracking under high impact or stress. This makes them less durable in the applications and conditions that they are used in and they have to be reapplied more often.

To meet this need of enhancing the impact resistance and fracture toughness of these industrially useful resins, and therefore the durability of the systems, Cargill has developed a range of B-Tough toughening agents that can help to extend the lifetime of formulations. There are three families of B-Tough: the B-Tough A range dedicated to epoxy adhesives, the B-Tough C range for coatings, and the B-Tough UV range for acrylic photopolymers

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B-Tough A2 Maxemul 9107 liquid epoxy coatings formulation

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Adhesives & sealants product guide

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Coatings product guide

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How does B-Tough work?

B-Tough works by reacting with the hardener to form soft rubbery particles in the hard epoxy matrix. These rubbery particles are homogenously spread throughout the system via controlled phase incompatibility and will, as a result, restrict crack growth by absorbing impact and thermal stress.

By increasing the impact strength in this way and maintaining the hardness, toughening is therefore achieved. Furthermore, as B-Tough is chemically reacted into the epoxy, there are no issues with migration or stability.

Learn more about the toughening effect

B-Tough A in adhesive applications

Besides excellent toughening performance, B-Tough A also offers the following benefits to structural adhesives:

Improved adhesion after humid ageing
Reduced moisture diffusivity to protect substrates from moisture
Good thermo-oxidative stability for enhance durability
Even distribution throughout the adhesive, ensuring a long-term effect

B-Tough A is available in three different polarities to allow it to be matched to the polarity of the epoxy system. This ensures compatibility of the B-Tough with the epoxy so that the reaction can occur, whilst also providing the incompatibility during curing that results in the phase separation needed to provide impact resistance. The three grades to choose from are:

B-Tough A1 - lowest polarity grade, most suitable for liquid 828 type epoxy resins
B-Tough A2 - intermediate polarity grade, can be used for both liquid or solid epoxy resins
B-Tough A3 - highest polarity grade, most suitable for solid 1001 type epoxy resins

You can test multiple grades to find the right one for your epoxy system.

B-Tough C in coatings applications

B-Tough C epoxy functional toughening ingredients allow for the formulation of epoxy systems with enhanced flexibility whilst maintaining hardness. Acting in a similar way as B-Tough A products, these grades are developed to have lower viscosity. They also offer benefits including:

Excellent impact strength, also at low temperatures
Excellent impact and crack resistance preventing surface marring for optimal protection
Liquid product, making it easier to formulate with

B-Tough C is available in two different grades: B-Tough C2r and B-Tough C2x.

B-Tough C2r is a VOC-free grade that allows for the formulation of low to zero VOC coatings based on solid and liquid epoxy resins suitable for indoor and outdoor use. The reactive diluent makes this a 100% active system. B-Tough C2x is more suitable for outdoor applications as the diluent is xylene.

Products

Toughening agents

Epoxy functionalised toughening agents

Toughening agents for epoxy adhesives and coating formulations.

Adhesives and sealants

Ingredients for high-performance adhesives and sealants

Our ingredients bring durability and enhanced adhesion strength to multiple substrates

Coatings

Sustainable solutions for industrial, protective and decorative coatings

Solutions for decorative, and industrial and protective coating systems including water-based epoxies, alkyds, polyurethane dispersions, and low or VOC free systems.

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