Segmental mobility, solution-based polymer

Increased moisture can plasticize a polymer matrix. Water acts not only as a solvent for small solutes but as an agent that increases the free volume of polymer molecules and their degree of segmental motion (i.e., water is differentially solvated and mobilizes parts of the heterologous structure of protein and polysaccharide polymers). When polymers, or segments within them, are given more freedom of movement, then other diffusion-based phenomena might occur more readily. Chemical reactions should not necessarily be expected to be affected by increased free volume of the polymer, and a review of the literature yields little support for this theory for most chemical reactions. Instead, some of the increased reaction rates that have been attributed to plasticization are instead the result of increased solvation. 

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