Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 February 2011
Solid state NMR and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) techniques have been used to study the “antiplasticization” effects of dihexyladipate (DHA) and tricresylphosphate (TCP) on poly(vinyl butyral-co-vinyl alcohol) (PVB) and poly(2,6-dimethyl phenylene oxide) (PPO) respectively. The DHA and TCP diluents decrease the primary viscoelastic transition temperatures (ax processes) along with their apparent activation energies [1,2] However, glassy state mechanical transitions (P processes) are characterized by increased activation energies. Similarly, carbon T1, T1p, and inversion recovery cross polarization (IRCP) experiments generally show that DHA and TCP suppress motion in the MHz, KHz, and near static frequency regimes. These results collectively suggest that the extent of antiplasticization is dependent on both the frequency regime of observation, and the morphology of the polymers.