Dataset: Role of acid hydrocarbon chain length on the cure kinetics and thermal degradation of epoxy- dicarboxylic acid vitrimers

This dataset comprises experimental results from the investigation of epoxy-acid vitrimer systems. Five different vitrimers were made of linear carboxylic acids and DGEBA, with 1% Zn(acac)2 as a catalyst. The acids employed are Adipic acid (denoted as C6), Suberic acid (denoted as C8), Sebacic acid (denoted as C10), Dodecanedioic acid (denoted as C12), and Tetradecanedioic acid (denoted as C14). The naming convention for formulations indicates the type of acid used; for instance, a vitrimer made from DGEBA and Adipic acid is labelled C6. The dataset encompasses 6 files in total.The dataset includes two types of test results: Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA ). The DSC files are titled "Vitrimer DSC C6-C14", and the TGA file is "Vitrimer TGA data".DSC analysis, conducted with a TA Instruments Discovery DSC 250. Before undergoing the dynamic heating programme, the samples were initially stabilised at a temperature of 40°C before being heated to the start temperature at a heating rate of 50°C/min aiming to minimise both the effect of the shadowing of the reaction peak due to carboxylic acid melting and any crosslinking occurring during the ramp. The start temperature for dynamic experiments was 160°C and the final temperature was 320°C. The rates used were of 2.5°C/min, 5°C/min, and 10°C/min. Isothermal DSC experiments were conducted at 160°C, 170°C, 180°C. Each file contains 6 sheets with sheet names indicating the thermal profile(e.g., C6 Dynamic 2.5°C per min for DSC results of the C6 sample being heated with the heating ramp rate of 2.5°C/min, and C14 Isothermal 160°C for the DSC results of the C14 sample cured at 160°C). The sheets record time, temperature, and enthalpy from the DSC tests. It can be observed that in some isothermal data sheets, the initial enthalpy is not zero. This occurs because the program begins recording the enthalpy during the heating phase, where a ramp rate of 50°C/min was applied to reach the target temperature. For consistency in the calculation and modelling of the materials, this initial enthalpy was subtracted from the total sum to ensure uniformity across all data.TGA data was obtained from a TA Q500. The samples were subjected to heating from 25°C to 600°C at 10°C/min under a nitrogen flow of 60 ml/min. Each formulation was subjected to three separate tests. The TGA file contains 15 sheets with the sheet name indicating the sample type and the repetition number. (e.g., C601 for the first set of TGA results for the C6 sample).