The development of controllable complex curing agents for epoxy resins - Part 3. An investigation of the shelf life and thermal dissociation behaviour of bis(acetanilido)tris(acetato)dicuprate(II)

Bis(acetanilido)-tris(acetato)dicuprate(II), [Cu-2(C7H8N2O)(2)(CH3CO2-)(3)](,) is incorporated into MY721, a commercial epoxy resin recognised as an 'industry standard'. Infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetry are employed to examine the structure and thermal dissociation behaviour of the newly prepared complex. Multivariate analysis techniques (e.g. principal components analysis) are used to examine the spectral data to corroborate the dissociation temperature. The shelf life and cure characteristics of the commercial epoxy/curing agent formulation are determined using differential scanning calorimetry and vibrational spectroscopy.