Types and Advantages of Epoxy Curing Agents

Have you planned to get the epoxy flooring done at your workplace? Does the idea sound tricky to implement? Well, for professionals like us, it is child’s play. All your concerns regarding epoxy resin flooring and what curing agents to choose is now our concern. We have an experienced team, and with their knowledge and skill set, they deliver the best results. Our team has expertise in the field to decide what kind of epoxy resin you must go with and which curing agent to add as a hardener based on relevant parameters set. Such insights make a difference, and surely you will benefit in the long term.

We value your inputs as well; our approach is consumer-centric. We record your needs well and based on your requirements and usage of the floor and place, our experts develop a plan of action. We deliberate and put in the mental effort before setting into operation mode in order to serve what you expect.

In the epoxy resin system, there are two components. Part A is the resin that has excellent bonding properties. The other component, part B, is the curing agent, i.e., the hardener responsible for reacting with epoxy groups and results in hard, thermoset materials. Curing agent adds other properties after combining with the resin, such as mechanical strength, electrical insulation, chemical resistance, etc. There are many options available for curing agents with different properties that offer multiple and significant advantages. They are listed below:

Types and advantages of epoxy curing agents:

Aliphatic amines

• Quick to react with epoxy resin
• Room temperature curing agent
• It gives rise to a large quantity of heat.
• Has a short pot life
• Resins cured with Aliphatic amines are strong, excellent in bonding properties.
• Very low outgassing levels
• Resins cured with Aliphatic amines are resistant to alkalis, and many inorganic acids, water, and solvents.
• It might irritate the skin and possess toxicity. But, those aliphatic amines with high molecular weight and low vapour pressure are less toxic. Hence, to handle such compounds with care, you need to hire our experts with excellent experience to deal with such a curing agent.

Polyamides

• It is an organic compound similar to ammonia, with one of its hydrogen atoms replaced with another atom.
• Formed by the condensation reaction between dimer acid and polyamine.
• Has reactive primary and secondary amines in its composition
• Cures at or below normal temperature
• It cures slowly as it has a long pot life.
• Heat generation is moderate.
• It has high hydrocarbon moiety, hence results in a highly plasticised rigid thermosetting polymer.
• Excellent shock resisting and dielectric properties
• Offers high tensile, compression, and bending strength to the resin.
• It is commonly used as a coating or an adhesive.

Cycloaliphatic amines

• Provide better water resistance
• Better chemical resistance
• Better impact resistance as it has a ring structure that provides it with a more structural stretch
• Excellent temperature resistance
• Leaves high gloss surfaces
• Low yellowing
• Low viscosity
• Highly reactive hardener
• Less volatile than linear aliphatic amines
• It is a standard curing agent used for coatings, civil engineering, and composites applications.

Aromatic amines

• Forms three-dimensional cross-linked networks, which offers good properties to be used as a matrix.
• Greater heat resistance than aliphatic amines
• Has weaker basicity than aliphatic amines
• Slowly cures at room temperature because of steric hindrance by the aromatic ring.
• Excellent mechanical properties, making it more suitable for industrial production.
• Good electrical properties
• It provides chemical resistance against alkalis. Hence it is highly resistant to solvents.

Anhydrides

• Curing agent best used for electrical insulating materials.
• Suitable for making large bendings
• It has a long pot life, curing reaction is slow.
• The shrinkage rate is slow.
• Has excellent dielectric properties
• Generates a small quantity of heat
• Well-balanced chemical, electrical and mechanical properties.
• It is less volatile, less toxic, and causes little irritation to the skin.
• Viscosity is less after mixing it with resin.
• It can be modified by adding some additives, and thus, its cost can be reduced.

Imidazoles

• Anionic polymerising curing agent for
• A long pot life
• Faster curing speed
• Better heat resistance
• A higher modulus
• An extensive range of cure temperatures
• Excellent chemical resistance
• Used mainly in the electronics industry as moulding and sealing compounds.

Lewis acids

• Very good temperature resistance
• Pot life is less
• Fast curing agent. Their pot life is 30 seconds or less, hence, mostly used in the form of complexes with amines.
• Rapidly reacts with resin at room temperature.
• Also used as a curing accelerator when anhydrides are used as curing agents.
• Work as polymerisation catalysts.

Advantages of curing agents:

• Curing agents offer flexibility in the application of the epoxy system. For instance, when the epoxy system is needed to cure at room temperature, amine-based curing agents are used.  Likewise,  different curing agents are employed for curing in lower temperatures.
• Thermal energy is not essential to heat the adhesive or the area of attachment.
• Easy to augment them by exposing them to high temperatures.
• Different curing agents contribute distinct properties to the epoxy resin system. Like, resistance to chemicals, heat, inorganics acids, some solvents, etc. Therefore, enabling us to choose a curing agent fulfilling our requirements.
• No heating equipment is required, hence utilises less energy.
• Because working at high temperatures is not required, it gives out fewer vapours. Hence, it is less toxic.
• They are cost affordable.

Contact us

We have been in the business for generations now, and we have mastered the handling of business-to-business and business-to-consumer relations. Bansal Trading Company does not just stick to the pre-set protocol. With leading marketing and distributing chemical company to launching new innovative products, we have done it all. We work to serve your best interest and satisfaction. We employ a variety of products to meet your demands. As epoxy resin flooring requires expertise and knowledge of various chemical compounds, we have a specialized team dedicated to processing your work in the hassle-free manner possible.