Optimisation of Epoxidation Parameters of Crude and Waste Vegetable Oils for Bitumen Modification

This dataset contains experimental results from the epoxidation of crude and waste vegetable oils - specifically waste sunflower oil, palm oil, and commercial epoxidized soybean oil — synthesized for potential application as bio-based modifiers of petroleum road bitumens. Epoxidation was carried out using an in situ method, in which a 60% aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution reacts with formic acid to generate peracid in the reaction medium. Reactions were conducted in a thermostated reactor with mechanical stirring (400 rpm) at 55–65 °C for 150 minutes under an inert atmosphere. Hydrogen peroxide was added dropwise to control the exothermic process and prevent oxirane ring degradation. The dataset includes physico-chemical characterization data for both unmodified and epoxidized oils: epoxide value (EN, %), iodine value (IV, g I₂/100 g), and acid value (AN, mg KOH/100 g), determined according to DSTU ISO 3001, DSTU EN ISO 660, and DSTU EN ISO 3961 standards (international equivalents: AOCS Cd 9-57, AOCS Cd 3d-63, AOCS Cd 1d-92). Structural modification was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), with raw spectral data provided in machine-readable format. Thermal stability was assessed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Key results show that epoxidation of waste cooking oil (WCO) increased the epoxide value from 0.06% to 4.55%, while the iodine value decreased from 91.0 to 0.9 g I₂/100 g, confirming near-complete conversion of double bonds. FTIR spectra confirm the disappearance of unsaturation bands and the appearance of oxirane ring peaks at 820–840 cm⁻¹. DSC analysis demonstrated thermal stability of the epoxidized product up to 250 °C, which exceeds typical hot-mix asphalt preparation temperatures (140–160 °C). The dataset is intended to support research on sustainable bio-modifiers for road construction materials and can be reused for comparative studies, modelling of epoxidation kinetics, or development of green bitumen modification protocols.