A novel single component epoxy resin adhesive with microcapsule latent curing agent of 2-phenylimidazole/polymethyl acrylic glycidyl ester

2-Phenylimidazole (2-PZ) and polymethyl acrylic glycidyl ester (PGMA) are performed to fabricate a novel microcapsule latent curing agent of 2-PZ/PGMA by solvent evaporation method with 2-PZ as the core material and PGMA as the shell material. A novel single-component 2-PZ/PGMA/epoxy adhesive is also prepared by mixing 2-PZ/PGMA with epoxy resin matrix. The 2-PZ/PGMA microcapsules are characterized using scanning electron microscopy and granulometer. The curing kinetics and thermal properties of 2-PZ/PGMA/epoxy resin system are also investigated using differential scanning calorimeter, Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, and thermogravimetric analysis. Results show that 2-PZ/PGMA has good sphericity and narrow diameter distribution. The curing process of the 2-PZ/PGMA/epoxy resin system contains autocatalytic mechanism. Compared with that of pure epoxy, the presence of the 2-PZ/PGMA has little effect on thermal stability for the epoxy.