A comparison of some imidazoles in the curing of epoxy resin

An epoxy-imidazole resin system was used to form an anisotropic conducting film (ACF) for electronic equipment applications. In this study, the curing behaviors of an epoxy resin with imidazole, 2-methylimidazole, 2-ethylimidazole, 2-phenylimidazole, 1-methylimidazole, 2-ethyl-4(5)-methylimidazole, and 1-(2-cyanoethyl)-2-ethyl-4(5)-methylimidazole were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and the curing times were determined at 150 and 180 °C. The polymerization mechanism for the epoxy resin with imidazoles was examined, and the DSC results matched the mechanism. 2-Methylimidazole exhibited the fastest reaction time among the imidazoles used in this study.