Structural Recovery of Epoxy Films Subjected to CO$_{2}$ Pressure Jumps

This group has previously investigated the impact of structural recovery and physical aging on thermodynamic and mechanical properties of polymers after temperature jumps and compared with plasticizer jumps [1]. Increasing plasticizer content depresses the glass transition temperature (T$_{g})$ in glassy polymers and this results in changes in the mechanical, optical and dielectric properties. Plasticizer jumps using a strong polar molecule have been previously studied by our group and have shown qualitatively similar behavior to temperature jump experiments [2]. In the current work, we report the results on plasticization effects using a weakly polar molecule (CO$_{2})$ on the structural recovery of glassy polymers after plasticization jumps and compare the behavior with temperature formed glasses. \newline \newline [1] Banda, L., Alcoutlabi, M., and McKenna, G.B, J. Polym. Sci. Part B: Polym. Phys., \textbf{44}, 801-814, 2006 \newline [2] Zheng Y, and McKenna, G.B., Macromolecules, \textbf{36}, 2387-2396, 2003