The curing kinetic, thermal and adhesive properties of epoxy resin cured with cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) were investigated. The CNSL was used as a curing agent for epoxy resin. The epoxy resin cured with 10, 20 30, 40 and 50 wt% of CNSL showed two-stages curing process between 165-170 degrees C and 230-235 degrees C. The solvent extraction experiment indicated that the CNSL content should not exceed 40 wt% to avoid the presence of unreacted CNSL. The apparent activation energy (E-a) of 60/40 epoxy resin/CNSL copolymer was obtained from Friedman's model-free method for both stages of curing process. The kinetic model and kinetic parameters were determined by Malek's method and the reaction processes was simulated favorably by Sestak-Berggren (SB (m, n)) model. In addition, silica powder was used to improve the adhesion and thermal properties of copolymer. The epoxy resin/CNSL copolymer with 0.5 wt% silica showed a substantial increase in the lap shear strength and thermal stability tended to increase with increasing silica content. The epoxy resin/CNSL composite showed a great potential for use as a high performance adhesive with good thermal stability. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.