A sheet molding compound which is a thickened material of an epoxy resin composition, including a component (A), a component (B), and a component (C), in which the component (A) is an epoxy resin staying at a liquid state at 25° C., the component (B) is an acid anhydride, the component (C) is an epoxy resin curing agent, and in the thickened material, at least some of epoxy groups of the component (A) and at least some of carboxy groups derived from the component (B) form ester.

Provided is a curing agent for a water-based epoxy resin, which contains the following component (A) and component (B): (A); at least one selected from the group consisting of a polyamide amine-based curing agent (a1), a reaction product (a2) of a polyamine compound and a polyepoxy compound, and a Mannich reaction product (a3) of a polyamine compound, a phenol compound, and an aldehyde compound; (B): at least one selected from the group consisting of a reaction product (b1) of styrene and an amine compound represented by the following formula (1), and a reaction product (b2) of epichlorohydrin and an amine compound represented by the following formula (1);
H.sub.2N—CH.sub.2-A-CH.sub.2—NH.sub.2  (1) wherein A is a 1,2-phenylene group, a 1,3-phenylene group, or a 1,4-phenylene group.

The present invention provides: a curable composition including an epoxy resin, an amine compound, and core-shell particles, in which the amine compound contains an N-(aminoalkyl)piperazine compound as an essential component; a cured product thereof; a fiber reinforced composite material, a fiber reinforced resin molded article, and a method for producing a fiber reinforced resin molded article. The curable resin composition has fast curability, also has favorable impregnation property into reinforced fibers, and furthermore, can form a cured product having excellent toughness and the like.

A corrosion-indicating material and methods of producing and using the corrosion-indicating material are provided. The corrosion-indicating material comprises a cured product of reacting a bisphenol A diglycidyl ether epoxy (DGEBA) resin with a curing agent, the curing agent comprising a 1,10-phenanthroline derivative having formula (I): ##STR00001##
where: R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are independently selected from —NH.sub.2; —NH(CH.sub.2).sub.aNH.sub.2, where a is 1, 2, or 3; —OC(═O)(CH.sub.2).sub.bNH.sub.2, where b is 1, 2, or 3; and —H; R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 are either: non-joined monovalent radicals each independently chosen from —H, —NH.sub.2, and (C.sub.1-C.sub.20)heterohydrocarbyls comprising at least one primary amine or at least one secondary amine; or joined as a single divalent radical, the single divalent radical being a (C.sub.1-C.sub.40)heterohydrocarbyl comprising at least one primary amine or at least one secondary amine; and at least one of R.sup.1, R.sup.2, R.sup.3, and R.sup.4 is not —H.

A corrosion-indicating material and methods of producing and using the corrosion-indicating material are provided. The corrosion-indicating material comprises a cured product of reacting a bisphenol A diglycidyl ether epoxy (DGEBA) resin with a curing agent, the curing agent comprising a 1,10-phenanthroline derivative having formula (I):

##STR00001##

where: R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are independently selected from —NH.sub.2; —NH(CH.sub.2).sub.aNH.sub.2, where a is 1, 2, or 3; —OC(═O)(CH.sub.2).sub.bNH.sub.2, where b is 1, 2, or 3; and —H; R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 are either: non-joined monovalent radicals each independently chosen from —H, —NH.sub.2, and (C.sub.1-C.sub.20)heterohydrocarbyls comprising at least one primary amine or at least one secondary amine; or joined as a single divalent radical, the single divalent radical being a (C.sub.1-C.sub.40)heterohydrocarbyl comprising at least one primary amine or at least one secondary amine; and at least one of R.sup.1, R.sup.2, R.sup.3, and R.sup.4 is not —H.

Provided is a curing agent for a water-based epoxy resin, which contains the following component (A) and component (B): (A); at least one selected from the group consisting of a polyamide amine-based curing agent (a1), a reaction product (a2) of a polyamine compound and a polyepoxy compound, and a Mannich reaction product (a3) of a polyamine compound, a phenol compound, and an aldehyde compound; (B): at least one selected from the group consisting of a reaction product (b1) of styrene and an amine compound represented by the following formula (1), and a reaction product (b2) of epichlorohydrin and an amine compound represented by the following formula (1);

H.sub.2NCH.sub.2-A-CH.sub.2NH.sub.2(1) wherein A is a 1,2-phenylene group, a 1,3-phenylene group, or a 1,4-phenylene group.

Bismaleimides (BMI) exhibit excellent heat resistance (high Tg and high resistance to thermal decomposition) compared to epoxy resins and phenolic resins, and therefore, in recent years, more attention is paid to bismaleimides as a resin material for the next-generation devices represented by SiC power semiconductors, in addition to the investigation on the use of bismaleimides for electronic material applications. As such, conventional BMI's are known as highly heat-resistant resins; however, there is a demand for a resin having higher heat resistance for advanced material applications and the like. Thus, an object of the invention is to provide a novel maleimide compound having superior heat resistance. Disclosed is a substituted or unsubstituted allyl group-containing maleimide compound having a structure with three or more benzene rings, having one or more groups each having a substituted or unsubstituted allyl group, and having one or more maleimide groups.

A sheet molding compound which is a thickened material of an epoxy resin composition, including a component (A), a component (B), and a component (C), in which the component (A) is an epoxy resin staying at a liquid state at 25 C., the component (B) is an acid anhydride, the component (C) is an epoxy resin curing agent, and in the thickened material, at least some of epoxy groups of the component (A) and at least some of carboxy groups derived from the component (B) form ester.

A composition containing an epoxide compound with two or more epoxide groups, a thiol ester with two or more ester groups and two or more thiol groups and/or a thiol ether with two or more thiol groups, and 0.005-2 wt. %, based on the total weight of the composition, of a tertiary amine which has a 5- or 6-membered aliphatic nitrogen heterocycle, said composition containing less than 1 wt. % of a primary amine. The composition can be used as an embedding medium for microscopy and as an adhesive and to an optical element which comprises the composition.

A gas barrier material, comprising: a thermosetting resin capable of forming a smectic structure via a curing reaction; and an amine curing agent.