Improving the Accuracy of Ceiling Temperature Measurements: Best Practices and Common Pitfalls

The investigation of low ceiling temperature (T_c) monomers is an active area of research in the field of polymer science to address modern challenges in waste and recycling. Many commendable contributions have been made to this field; however, a thorough survey of the literature has revealed common oversights in the calculations of the changes in enthalpy (ΔH_p) and entropy (ΔS_p) upon polymerization as well as T_c. This Perspective aims to clarify how to avoid these pitfalls, accurately calculate these values, and outline best practices for experimentally measuring these key thermodynamic parameters. In an era where researchers are increasingly reliant on the quality of data, especially for endeavors in machine learning and artificial intelligence, it is important to establish a unified approach for making these calculations to optimize precision and accuracy.