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6. Anhydrides (Three Bond 2162G, 2280C)
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Anhydrides used as epoxy-resin curing agents
have been used as curing agents for electrical
insulating materials. Anhydrides require severer
curing conditions than amine-based curing agents,
but are suitable for making large moldings, as they
have a long pot life and form cured resins having
relatively well-balanced electrical, chemical, and
mechanical properties while generating a small
quantity of heat.
(1) Aromatic anhydrides
Aromatic anhydrides are generally solid. They
have been used in powder paints for powder
molding, and their varnishes and solutions in liquid
anhydrides have been used in insulating coating for
condensers and casting.
(2) Alicyclic anhydrides
Alicyclic anhydrides are the most common curing
agents for epoxy resin. Most of the generally used
anhydrides fall into this category. Of these, the
principal curing agents are methyltetrahydro
phthalic anhydride, tetrahydro phthalic anhydride,
methyl nadic anhydride, hexahydro phthalic
anhydride, and methylhexahydro phthalic
anhydride.
(3) Aliphatic anhydrides
Polycarboxylic anhydrides, which are formed by
the dehydration condensation reaction between
aliphatic dibasic-acid molecules, exhibit excellent
flexibility and thermal shock resistance, and have
been used alone or in combination with other
anhydrides in powder paints and casting resin
curing agents.
When anhydrides are used as curing agents,
curing accelerators are normally used. Many types
of accelerators, such as tertiary amine, boric-acid
ester, Lewis acid, organic metal compounds,
organic metal salts, and imidazole, have been
studied.
7. Latent curing agents
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Latent curing agents are mixtures of curing agents
with epoxy resin that can be stably stored at room
temperature, and rapidly cure by heat, light,
pressure, and others.
7-1. Boron trifluoride-amine complex
(Three Bond 2285B, 2287, 2287B)
Lewis acids such as BF
3
, ZnCl
2
, SnCl
4
, FeCl
3
,
and AlCl
3
have been known as cationic
polymerization catalysts. Unlike anion
polymerization by Lewis bases (e.g., tertiary amine),
Lewis acids work as polymerization catalysts not
only for DGEBA-type resins but also for linear and
alicyclic epoxy resins. The Lewis acids vigorously
react with resins at room temperature, and their pot
life is 30 seconds or less. Therefore, they are
normally used in the form of complexes with
amines. The representative Lewis acid is boron
trifluoride-amine complex, which has the structure
shown below. The complexes have different
properties (e.g., melting point, reactivity) according
to the type of amine.
The BF
3
-amine complex is a catalyzed curing
agent, and thus it is added to resins in small
amounts (1% to 5%). The cured resins have a high
HDT (150°C to 170°C); in particular, the cured
substances of some novolac-type epoxy resins have
a HDT of 230°C, and feature excellent electrical
properties, but their chemical resistance is relatively
weak. Due to the latency and heat resistance of the
cured resins, the complexes have been used in
electrical insulating laminates and carbon fiber
reinforced plastics (CFRP).
7-2. Dicyandiamide
(Three Bond 2220 to 2227)
Dicyandiamide (DICY) is a representative latent
curing agent that forms crystals having a high
melting point of 207°C to 210°C. DICY has a pot