Investigation of the redistribution of the fluctuational free volume caused by the plasticization of epoxyamine polymers

An improvement has been observed in the mechanical properties of specimens of epoxyamine polymers when small amounts of a plasticizer are introduced. This phenomenon, known as 'antiplasticization', is discussed from the point of view of a free-volume model. The parameters obtained in the present work for the size distribution of the voids of the free volume, together with the data from physico-mechanical tests on the plasticized polymers, give new information about the connection between the structure and properties of the polymer with respect to its free volume. The redistribution of the free volume here takes a part in the mechanism of the antiplasticization phenomenon.