The curing kinetics of the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA)/2ethyl-4-methylimidazole (EMI-2,4)/nano-sized carborundum (nano-SiC) system was studied by means of nonisothermal differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). An isoconversional method of kinetic analysis yields a dependence of the effective activation energy E on the extent of conversion that decreases initially, and then increases as the cure reaction proceeds. The variations of E were used to study the cure reaction mechanisms, and the Shrinking Core Model was used to study the resin-particle reaction. The results show that the presence of nano-SiC particles prevents the occurrence of vitrification, as well as inhibits the cure reaction. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.