SYNOPSISIt appears that improved latency in nitrile epoxy adhesives can be achieved by replacing the commonly used urea accelerator with one of much reduced solubility but similar chemical activity. A new, commercially available film adhesive claimed to possess a shelf life of 1 year at 22"C, excellent resistance to humidity prior to cure, and a service temperature range of -55 to 12OOC has been examined. Areas studied included characterization, cure kinetics, adhesive performance, and shelf life. Its composition was found to be a variant of the 12OOC curing nitrile-epoxy systems using a urea-accelerated dicyandiamide cure.Two novel features were noted the presence of bisphenol S and the urea 1,l'-p-phenylenebis (3,3-dimethyl) urea. The relatively high shear strength found at elevated temperatures could be related to the adhesive's high Tg of 155OC resulting from the addition of bisphenol S and the improved room-temperature latency was due to the ultralow solubility of the urea accelerator. Good durability was obtained from aluminum joints prepared using a simple silane pretreatment. Aging experiments indicated a shelf life of at least 3 months at 23°C under both dry and wet conditions, and it is predicted that adhesives of this type of composition would be stable for at least 1 year at normal domestic refrigeration temperatures of 5-1OoC. 0 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.