Curing agents are critical components of aqueous epoxy resin systems. Unfortunately, its uses and applications are restricted because of its low emulsifying yields. Epoxy resins are frequently used in electrical devices, castings, packaging, adhesive, corrosion resistance, and dip coating. In the presence of curing agents, epoxy resins become rigid and infusible. Eco-friendliness and mechanical functionality have emerged as vulcanization properties. Curing agents are used for surface modification, thermodynamic properties, functional approaches to therapeutic procedures, and recent advances in a variety of fields such as commercial and industrial levels. The curing agent has superior construction and mechanical properties when compared to the commercial one, which suggests that it has the potential for use as the architectural and industrial coatings. The thermal stability of cured products is good due to the presence of the imide group and the hydrogenated phenanthrene ring structure. Over the course of the projection period, it is anticipated that the global market for curing agents will continue to expand at a steady rate. The growth of the market is mainly driven by its expanding range in future applications such as adhesives, composites, construction, electrical, electronics, and wind energy. This review focused on the most recent advancements in curing techniques, emphasizing their thermal and mechanical properties. The review also presents a critical discussion of key aspects and bottleneck or research gap of the application of curing agents in the industrial areas.

Organic wastewater causes serious environmental pollution, and catalytic oxidation is promising technique for wastewater treatment. Developing green and effective catalysts is currently challenging. In this work, green synthesis of nano zerovalent iron loaded onto porous biochar derived from popcorn is conducted, and catalytic oxidation of Rhodamine B (RhB) is evaluated in the presence of H2O2. Effect of process factors is examined on catalytic performance for RhB removal. The mechanism of RhB removal is discussed by characterizations (Fourier transform infrared spectra and Raman) and UV–vis spectra. RhB removal is improved with high catalyst dosage, low initial RhB concentration, and high reaction temperature, while it is slightly influenced by carbonization temperature of biochar, H2O2 dosage and pH value. Under conditions of BC-250 1.0 g/L, H2O2 0.01 mol/L, pH 6.1, and temperature 30 °C, the removal rate of RhB is 92.27% at 50 min. Pseudo first-order kinetics is used to fitting experimental data, and the activation energy for RhB removal in BC-250/H2O2 system is 39 kJ/mol. RhB removal in BC-250/H2O2 system can be attributed to adsorption effect and catalytic oxidation with the dominant role of hydroxyl radical. This work gives insights into catalytic oxidation of organic wastewater using green catalyst.