The present invention provides a thermosetting resin composition comprising (A) a curing agent having an acidic substituent and an unsaturated maleimide group which is produced by a specific method, (B) a 6-substituted guanamine compound and/or dicyandiamide, (C) a copolymer resin comprising specific monomer units and (D) an epoxy resin and a prepreg and a laminated plate which are prepared by using the same. The thermosetting resin composition of the present invention is balanced in all of a copper foil adhesive property, a heat resistance, a moisture absorption, a flame resistance, a metal-stuck heat resistance, a relative dielectric constant and a dielectric loss tangent. They have a low toxicity and are excellent in a safety and a working environment, and therefore a prepreg and a laminated plate which have excellent performances are obtained by using the above thermosetting resin composition.

A prepreg for printed wiring boards that has a low coefficient of thermal expansion in a plane direction, has excellent heat resistance and drilling workability, and, at the same time, can retain a high level of flame retardance includes a base material, a resin composition impregnated into or coated on the base material, and huntite. The resin includes (A) an inorganic filler that is a mixture composed of a hydromagnesite represented by xMgCO.sub.3.yMg(OH).sub.2.zH.sub.2O wherein x:y:z is 4:1:4, 4:1:5, 4:1:6, 4:1:7, 3:1:3, or 3:1:4; (B) an epoxy resin; and (C) a curing agent. The prepreg can be used to prepare a laminated sheet and a metal foil-laminated sheet.

A resin-rich peel ply that does not leave behind residual fibers after peeling and can work well with different resin-based composite substrates. The resin-rich peel ply is composed of a woven fabric impregnated with a resin matrix different from the resin matrix of the composite substrate. The peel ply is designed such that, upon manual removal of the peel ply from the composite substrate's surface, a thin film of the peel ply resin remains on the composite substrate's surface to create a bondable surface capable of bonding with another composite substrate, but no fibrous material from the woven fabric remains on the same surface.

An object of the present invention is to provide a prepreg which has both excellent mechanical properties such as strength and elastic modulus and excellent appearance such as low-coloring property, transparency and weather resistance, and which also has an excellent tacking property, as well as to provide a fiber-reinforced composite material, a tubular fiber-reinforced composite material, a golf club shaft and a fishing rod, using the prepreg. The gist of the present invention is a prepreg including reinforcing fibers and a resin composition, wherein the resin composition contains the following component [A] to component [D]: component [A]: epoxy resins; component [B]: dicyandiamide; component [C]: a compound which has a boiling point of 130 C. or higher and a molecular weight m of 50 or more and 250 or less, which does not contain an epoxy group within the molecular structure, and which substantially does not have an epoxy resin curing ability; and component [D]: a phenoxy resin; and wherein the resin composition satisfies the following requirements (1) to (3): (1): the resin composition contains from 10 to 40 parts by mass of an isocyanurate type epoxy resin [A1], as the component [A], with respect to 100 parts by mass of the total epoxy resin: (2): the resin composition contains from 10 to 50 parts by mass of a novolac type epoxy resin [A2], as the component [A], with respect to 100 parts by mass of the total epoxy resin; and (3): the resin composition contains 10 parts by mass or less of a glycidylamine type epoxy resin [A3], as the component [A], with respect to 100 parts by mass of the total epoxy resin.

A curable composition comprising: i) a glycidyl ether of a novolac, comprising or consisting of moieties having the formula (I), wherein R.sub.a is either always hydrogen or always methyl; B is either always *CH2-** or always formula (A); a fraction of 0.8 to 0.99 of the Y moieties are essentially O-glycidyl, this fraction being designated as x, and the remainder of the Y moieties, this fraction being designated as (1-x), are divalent bridging spacers of the structure *OCH.sub.2CH(OH)CH.sub.2O** connecting two moieties according to above formula (I); andn is a number in the range of 0.1 to 3.0; and wherein said novolac glycidyl ether has an epoxy equivalent weight FEW in the range of 160 to 270 g/eq. and the average number of epoxy groups per molecule of novolac glycidyl ether (I), designated as f, is in the range of 2.1 to 5.0; ii) dicyandiamide; and iii) an urea derivative of the formula (II). This composition is stable upon storage at room temperature and fire-retardant. It can be used for preparation of prepregs and in core filling, particularly in the aerospace field.

The present invention relates to rapid-curing resin formulations as well as fiber- reinforced composite materials comprising the same and their use in the manufacture of molded articles, particularly where the manufacturing process requires high throughput and where resin formulations having consistent handling characteristics (e.g., tack and flexibility) would be preferable across normal to elevated laminating environments (as defined by temperatures between 20 C. and 60 C.). The present invention further relates to a manufacturing process for preparing an article, particularly a molded article, from a fiber-reinforced composite material comprising a rapid-curing resin formulation.

Compositions and methods for forming epoxy resin are provided, and compositions and methods for forming epoxy resin composites are provided. In one embodiment, a composite comprises an epoxy resin composition comprising an epoxy resin component comprising a glycidyl ether of an aryl substituted phenolic compound, a curing agent component, and a substrate. In one embodiment, a composite comprises an epoxy resin composition comprising an epoxy resin component and a curing agent component comprising an aryl substituted phenolic compound, and a substrate.

The present invention provides a thermosetting resin composition comprising (A) a metal salt of disubstituted phosphinic acid, (B) a maleimide compound having a N-substituted maleimide group in a molecule, (C) a 6-substituted guanamine compound or dicyandiamide and (D) an epoxy resin having at least two epoxy groups in a molecule and a prepreg and a laminated plate which are prepared by using the same. The prepregs obtained by impregnating or coating a base material with the thermosetting resin compositions of the present invention and the laminated plates produced by laminating and molding the above prepregs are balanced in all of a copper foil adhesive property, a glass transition temperature, a solder heat resistance, a moisture absorption, a flame resistance, a relative dielectric constant and a dielectric loss tangent, and they are useful as a printed wiring board for electronic instruments.

A masterbatch composition suitable for use as a flame retardant in extruded polymer foams, and process for manufacturing the same, and extruded foams containing same; the composition comprising: (a) 20 to 40 parts by weight base resin comprising styrene homopolymer or copolymer; (b) 1 to 16 parts by weight acid scavenger comprising an epoxy-based compound; (c) 2 to 6 parts by weight antioxidant comprising an alkyl or aryl phosphite; and (d) 45 to 60 parts by weight flame retardant comprising a non-hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) brominated polymer or copolymer, wherein the amounts of (a), (b), (c), and (d) total 100 parts by weight; and (e) 0.6 to 10 parts by weight of pH moderator, based on 100 parts of (a) base resin plus (e) water soluble pH moderator.

A method for producing a molded article of the present invention includes a step of preparing a pellet raw material containing a resin and raw fibers, a step of cutting the pellet raw material to obtain a plurality of pellets each containing the resin and fibers produced by cutting the raw fibers, a step of opening the fibers contained in each pellet; and a step of molding the pellets after being opened to obtain the molded article. According to the present invention, it is possible to easily produce a molded article (e.g., a back plate of a brake pad) having excellent mechanical strength. Further, According to the present invention, it is also possible to provide a molded article and a back plate each having excellent mechanical strength, and a brake pad having high reliability.