ViaForm 3070 from Element Solutions Inc. - silver epoxy for tight PCB layouts

Reviewed: ad hoc news B2B & Pro desk. Edited and checked on 2026-06-26, 02:36. Details in the imprint.

ViaForm 3070 from Element Solutions Inc. sits on the workbench as a thick, silver-grey epoxy, and process engineers watch how it slowly levels into tiny PCB via holes under the dispenser head. In a quiet factory at 2 a.m., that consistency counts more than any glossy brochure. The material is built to keep signal paths short and resistance low when every square millimetre on the board is spoken for.

What ViaForm 3070 is for

ViaForm 3070 is a silver-filled epoxy formulated to fill microvias and through-holes on densely packed printed circuit boards used in telecom, automotive and industrial control systems. The goal is simple but demanding: reliable electrical connection without voids, cracks or unexpected resistance spikes after curing. For layout engineers pushing six or more layers into a compact board, that promise can be the difference between a stable product and months of late debugging.

According to Element Solutions, the ViaForm materials family is part of its broader assembly materials portfolio, which ranges from solder pastes to conductive adhesives aimed at advanced packaging and high-density interconnect designs. In practice, that means ViaForm 3070 often shares a line with fine-pitch solder processes on the same mixed-technology board, so its rheology and curing profile have to fit into existing thermal cycles.

How it behaves in the line

Production engineers who have worked with similar silver epoxies describe the ideal behaviour in almost tactile terms: the material should sag just enough to fill the via but not so much that it bleeds across pads, and it should cure into a smooth, slightly glossy plug without pinholes. With ViaForm 3070, the focus is on controlled flow during dispensing or screen printing, followed by a cure schedule that reaches mechanical strength without cooking delicate components around it. That balance is especially important on boards carrying both power and high-speed signals, where a single void in a filled via can lead to local heating and eventually field failures.

Element Solutions product managers have been highlighting reliability testing as a core selling point for this class of material, pointing to thermal cycling and humidity exposure regimes that simulate years in an industrial cabinet or inside a base station enclosure. For OEM customers signing multi-year supply agreements, those test curves matter as much as any headline conductivity value, because a recall on an industrial controller can ripple through entire production networks.

Why silver-filled epoxy matters

At first glance, a pot of ViaForm 3070 looks like a commodity consumable, but for head of R&D Michael Goralski and his team at Element Solutions, materials like this are where the group can defend margins. When customers design a board around a particular epoxy and lock it into their qualification files, switching is painful and slow. That gives stable, recurring revenue as long as performance holds.

For the engineers at an automotive supplier trying to squeeze advanced driver-assistance electronics into a dashboard module, the key value of ViaForm 3070 is the combination of electrical performance and process fit. They want low contact resistance and predictable thermal expansion so that the vias survive years of vibration and temperature swings without microcracks. At the same time, they need a curing profile that sits comfortably inside existing reflow and curing ovens, without forcing extra ovens or longer takt times.

Strengths and trade-offs in practice

In everyday use on the line, process technicians will notice that ViaForm 3070 forces careful housekeeping. Silver-filled epoxies are inherently dense, and the wrong squeegee pressure or nozzle choice can lead to smearing around the via field, adding rework. On the positive side, once the parameters are dialed in, the material tends to build a neat, almost metallic plug that can be sanded or planarized in subsequent steps.

Another trade-off sits in the raw material cost. Silver is expensive, and specialty epoxies like ViaForm 3070 are far from cheap solder paste. Purchasing managers therefore push for tight control of scrap rates, syringe changeovers and shelf life, to avoid throwing away partially used material. For Element Solutions, that cost pressure is part of the argument for more application support and process audits, which in turn deepen the customer relationship.

Where the product fits in Element Solutions

Element Solutions positions itself as a specialty chemicals group serving electronics, automotive and industrial customers with high value-added formulations rather than bulk commodities. Products like ViaForm 3070 sit inside the electronics solutions segment, alongside plating chemistries, surface finishes and assembly materials. For investors, that mix means the company is exposed to secular trends such as 5G roll-out, vehicle electrification and factory automation rather than to basic chemical cycles alone.

All told, ViaForm 3070 is a small but telling example of how Element Solutions turns niche factory needs into defensible cash flows. While individual material volumes may be modest, design-in status on complex boards can translate into multi-year revenue streams and a customer base that is reluctant to switch suppliers without compelling reasons.

Context for Element Solutions shares

Element Solutions Inc. is listed in New York, and the Element Solutions share price reflects a portfolio that stretches from semiconductor packaging additives to specialty metal finishing. For investors tracking that story, consistent demand for assembly materials like ViaForm 3070 adds another layer of earnings visibility beyond the more cyclical parts of the business.

This article was AI-assisted and editorially reviewed. Product information without guarantee; prices and availability may change at short notice. No investment advice, no buy or sell recommendation. Stock-market transactions involve risks up to total loss.