A novel liquid imidazole-copper (II) complex as a thermal latent curing agent for epoxy resins

In this study, 1-cyanoethyl-2-ethyl-4-methylimidazole (1C2E4MI) was modified by copper chloride to improve its thermal latency towards epoxy resins. Unexpected complexation between 1C2E4MI and copper chloride was discovered, and two complexes which included a liquid and a solid were generated. The microanalytical results show that the ligand-metal ratios of these two complexes are 7:1 (liquid) and 1:1 (solid), rather than the theoretical 4:1...