Fast-curing aliphatic polyamine epoxy hardeners — DETA, TETA, and TEPA — for ambient-temperature cure of primers, grouts, and concrete-repair mortars.
Aliphatic polyamine curatives are low-molecular-weight ethylene amines — DETA, TETA, and TEPA — that crosslink liquid epoxy resin into a hard thermoset at ambient temperature. They react fast: a DETA-cured standard epoxy can reach handling strength in a few hours at 25°C with no oven. Specify them where cure speed and low cost matter more than appearance, such as primers, epoxy grouts, anchoring compounds, and concrete-repair mortars.
The trade-off is honest. Fast cure means short pot life (a DETA mix can gel in well under an hour in any appreciable mass), and the high reaction exotherm limits how thick a single pour can be. These amines also blush: in cool, humid air they react with atmospheric carbon dioxide and water to leave a greasy carbamate film that can ruin recoat adhesion. Benchmark the induction time for your batch size and control the dew point during application.
Within the family, reactivity climbs with amine content and molecular weight sets flexibility. DETA gives the fastest, highest-exotherm cure; TETA is the general-purpose middle grade; TEPA, the heaviest, builds a slightly more flexible film. For most ambient primer and grout work, start with TETA, then move to DETA only if you need a faster set, or to TEPA if the substrate flexes.
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