Cooperative Thiol-Amine System Enables Rapid Epoxy Curing with Balanced Thermomechanical Performance
Abstract
Epoxy thermosets typically exhibit a fundamental trade-off between curing speed and thermomechanical performance: thiol-cured systems enable rapid gelation but often produce low glass-transition temperature (Tg) networks, whereas amine-cured systems provide high Tg materials at the expense of slow curing kinetics. Here, we report a high-functionality, non-ester polythiol and a cooperative thiol-amine curing strategy that overcomes this limitation. Systematic variation of catalyst loading, epoxy stoichiometry, thiol-amine composition, and amine structure revealed strong structure-property relationships governing cure kinetics, thermal behavior, and adhesive performance. For the pure thiol-epoxy system, increasing catalyst concentration significantly accelerated gelation to minute-scale curing, while epoxy excess enhanced increased Tg without altering gel time. Hybrid thiol-amine formulations achieved substantially higher Tg than thiol-only systems while maintaining rapid cure, and the introduction of a primary amine largely eliminated the need for an external tertiary amine catalyst. Furthermore, the cooperative curing strategy proved effective across structurally different amine curing agents while maintaining rapid curing and balanced thermomechanical properties. This cooperative curing approach provides a simple and versatile platform for rapidly curable epoxy thermosets with balanced thermal and mechanical performance.
Related
- Mechanical and Thermomechanical Performance Evaluation of CFRP Sandwich Structures with Additively Manufactured Composite Cores
- Balanced Intra- and Interchain Exciton Delocalization Enables Efficient All-Polymer Solar Cells
- Melt-Processed AgNP-LDPE Nanocomposites with Balanced Antimicrobial and Mechanical Performance for Livestock-Farming Applications
- Optimization of CNT-induced Ni₉S₈ nanoplates for balanced charge-transfer kinetics and conductivity in high-performance battery-type supercapacitors.
- Flame Retardancy and Hydrophobicity Enhancement for HDPE Containing an Organic–Inorganic Hybrid P–N–Si–Cu Cooperative Flame-Retardant System
BibTeX
@misc{lakkaichi2026cooperative,
title = {{Cooperative Thiol-Amine System Enables Rapid Epoxy Curing with Balanced Thermomechanical Performance}},
author = {Adem Lakkaichi and Christof Storz and Edith Schmitt and Zoubair Cherkaoui and Mohammad Yasir},
howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15008617/v1},
url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15008617/v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Cooperative Thiol-Amine System Enables Rapid Epoxy Curing with Balanced Thermomechanical Performance
AU - Adem Lakkaichi
AU - Christof Storz
AU - Edith Schmitt
AU - Zoubair Cherkaoui
AU - Mohammad Yasir
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/10
PB - ChemRxiv
DO - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15008617/v1
UR - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15008617/v1
AB - Epoxy thermosets typically exhibit a fundamental trade-off between curing speed and thermomechanical performance: thiol-cured systems enable rapid gelation but often produce low glass-transition temperature (Tg) networks, whereas amine-cured systems provide high Tg materials at the expense of slow curing kinetics. Here, we report a high-functionality, non-ester polythiol and a cooperative thiol-amine curing strategy that overcomes this limitation. Systematic variation of catalyst loading, epoxy stoichiometry, thiol-amine composition, and amine structure revealed strong structure-property relationships governing cure kinetics, thermal behavior, and adhesive performance. For the pure thiol-epoxy system, increasing catalyst concentration significantly accelerated gelation to minute-scale curing, while epoxy excess enhanced increased Tg without altering gel time. Hybrid thiol-amine formulations achieved substantially higher Tg than thiol-only systems while maintaining rapid cure, and the introduction of a primary amine largely eliminated the need for an external tertiary amine catalyst. Furthermore, the cooperative curing strategy proved effective across structurally different amine curing agents while maintaining rapid curing and balanced thermomechanical properties. This cooperative curing approach provides a simple and versatile platform for rapidly curable epoxy thermosets with balanced thermal and mechanical performance.
ER -