Curing of epoxy resins with dicyandiamide and urones

Abstract The curing of epoxy resins using dicyandiamide (DICY) and combinations of DICY with several uron accelerators as curing agents is investigated. DSC, FTIR, mechanical, and sorption measurements indicate complex multistage curing processes. There is no evidence that the curing reaction is catalyzed by DICY. The optimum stoichiometry is determined as 7 epoxy units per 1 molecule DICY. Contour plots for curing reactions with DICY in presence of Fenuron 3c or TDI‐uron 3d give some information for optimizing technical formulations. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.