Fabrication and performances of itaconic acid-based epoxy vitrimers with high mechanical properties

Itaconic acid-based epoxy vitrimers with dual-dynamic covalent bonds （boronic ester bond and ester bond） were fabricated by epoxy-carboxylic acid reaction， itaconic acid derivative as an epoxy monomer， synthesized tricarboxylic acid compound as crosslinker. The structures of the itaconic acid-based epoxy vitrimer and tricarboxylic acid compound were characterized by fourier transform infrared （FT-IR） spectra and proton nuclear magnetic resonance （1H NMR） spectroscopy， and the results show that all of them are successfully prepared. Meanwhile， the mechanical properties， thermal stability， thermo-mechanical properties and stress relaxation testing of the EIA-HBN were examined by tensile testing， thermogravimetric analysis （TG）， and dynamic mechanical analysis （DMA）， and the effects of HBN content on the network properties were studied. Furthermore， the effects of HBN content on self-healing and chemical recycling performances of all the itaconic acid-based epoxy vitrimer networks were researched； the results displayed that the EIA-HBN-6 network possess the excellent self-healing and chemical recycling capabilities.