Inorganic Materials

William Blythe Ltd, founded in 1845 in Accrington, Lancashire is the oldest speciality chemical businesses in the UK.

Wm. Blythe Ltd started as a manufacturer of inorganic chemicals for the local textile industry, producing several products, including zinc sulphate for use in the production of Rayon and zinc chloride for use in batteries.

The company was granted its first patent in 1854 for the development of a novel route to make sulfuric acid – signed by queen Victoria and still onsite today. In 1989 the company developed with Alcan FLAMTARD H and S, a range of non-hazardous flame-retardant synergists, which are still regarded as market leading.

Acquired by Synthomer in 1998, today the business exclusively manufactures inorganic chemicals based on a range of different elements with product applications as diverse as catalysis, semi-conductor manufacture, high-speed printing and fire-retarding polymers.

We have been innovators since 1845 – and we continue take our innovation into new markets, developing bespoke products from core compounds based on copper, tin and iodine.

As we continuously evolve, we are creating new products in key growth areas, including polymer additives, gas absorbents, renewable energy and battery materials.

Our R&D department is leading us forward with new advanced materials, including LUXACAL^TM, a nanomaterial with near-IR properties, and graphene oxide, a 2D material with a range of unique and functional properties, of which we’re one of the world leading manufacturers. We’re also developing a range of materials for next generation battery technologies, including solid-state batteries.

Collaborating with us can help accelerate your product development. We understand that high-end applications demand more than just a chemical specification – physical parameters can often impact a product’s functionality. We can take new process routes, from gram and kilogram quantities in the R&D laboratory, through to hundreds of kilograms in the pilot plant and multi-tonne scales on our flexible manufacturing assets. This speed and flexibility can be a real source of competitive advantage.

In addition to batch production processes, our on-site technologies include:

• Continuous flow chemistry
• Hydrothermal synthesis
• Ultra-purification techniques
• Post-synthesis enhancement techniques
• Membrane filtration

We are committed to complying fully with the Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Substances and Mixtures Regulation (CLP), which implements the United Nations’ Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). To do this, we work in close cooperation with our suppliers and customers to make sure that labels and new safety data sheets (SDSs) are designed with all the required information. We design CLP labels in-house, which means we have the flexibility to meet your specific requirements. Please get in touch if you have any questions about custom labelling.

Ours is a top tier COMAH site, accredited to ISO, 9001 (Quality), 14001 (Environment) and 50001 (Energy). Together with our IPPC permit, we are certified to work with materials that would be extremely difficult for new sites to gain approval for today.

For example, we have many years’ experience in the safe handling of substances such as chrome VI, arsenic acid and chlorine, and we can develop new products and scale them to industrial volumes.

We also offer a closed-loop reprocessing service for our iodine products to boost circularity within our collective supply chain.