X-ray diffraction studies on liquid crystalline order in vinyl polymers with mesogenic side-groups

X-ray studies on some vinyl polymers with azobenzene sidegroups were performed. A model of layered structure rearrangement resulting from the substitution of the methacrylate main chain for the acrylate is proposed. It has been shown that the perfection of a layered structure is reduced with shortening of the flexible tail of the mesogenic group. Improvement of LC order with increase of temperature was revealed.     

Electrooptical properties of liquid crystalline side chain polymers with laterally attached mesogenic units

The electrooptical properties of side-chain liquid crystalline polymers were investigated for the case that the mesogenic units were attached laterally rather than longitudinally to a flexible chain backbone via flexible spacer units. The experimental finding is that these polymers display unusual electrooptical properties within the isotropic phase in the neighborhood of the transition into the nematic phase. The polymers are characterized by the occurrence of a fast and a slow electrooptical response both of which show a critical divergence of the Kerr constant and the Kerr relaxation time. In addition, they show deviations between the rise and the decay values of the Kerr constants and in certain cases also of the Kerr relaxation times. Finally an overshoot of the induced birefringence following a sudden stepwise increase of the applied electric field has been found for one of these polymers. All these features can be accounted for on the basis of a newly developed theoretical approach that considers the particular dipolar and optical polarization configurations of these polymers.     

Phase behavior of liquid crystalline elastomers based on a tri-vinyl mesogenic cross-linker

A series of cross-linked liquid crystalline polymers are prepared by graft copolymerization, and their liquid crystalline properties are characterized by DSC and POM. The results show that low levels of cross-linking do not obviously affect the phase behavior of the network polymers; in contrast, high levels of cross-linking may have more drastic influences, and liquid crystalline phases may lose, and more marked variation in phase transition will occur in materials with more direct coupling through a shorter or stiffer coupling chain between mesogenic side units and polymer backbone. At the same time, the coupling between the polymer chain and sidegroups results in stress-induced orientation in LCEs.     

Structure-property relations in linear and crosslinked liquid crystalline polymers

This paper reviews structure-property relations in liquid crystalline side group polymers, as investigated by X-ray scattering of fibres, by small angle X-ray scattering in solution, by dielectric relaxation measurements and by melt rheology, as well as synthetic ways to “combined liquid crystalline polymers”. The synthesis of liquid crystalline elastomers from side group, main chain and combined liquid crystalline polymers is described. First structure-property relations are discussed.     

The effect of chemical constitution of mesogenic monomer unit on liquid crystalline properties of polymers

Glass transition temperatures and thermodynamic parameters of mesophase melting of polymers with mesogenic side-groups of the phenyl benzoate class depend on the length of the alkoxy substitutent, the mobility of the mesogenic groups and the nature of the main chain. Polymers with mesogenic groups connected directly to the main chain, obtained by precipitation from solution, have equilibrium liquid crystalline structures in which the macromolecules exist in a compact coil conformation with an ordered arrangement of the mesogenic groups. The nature of the main chain of these polymers affects the liquid crystalline structure. Mesophase melting parameters of the polymers with mesogenic groups, connected by flexible spacer groups to the main chain, are almost independent of the thermal history of the samples. These polymers in the isotropic melts are assumed to contain aggregates of the mesogenic groups.     

Effect of shape of mesogenic group on the formation of liquid crystalline phase in polymers

Mesomorphic behaviour of four polymethacrylates with mesogenic side groups has been studied. In contrast to monomers which are nematogenic, mesogenic groups in the polymers form layer structures of the smectic type. A thermodynamic stable mesophase is supposed to be realized in polymers which consist of macromolecules of secondary structure, considering a macromolecule as the smallest structural element of the polymer system.     

Supramolecular main-chain liquid crystalline polymers and networks with competitive hydrogen bonding: networks and linear polymers created from tris- and bis-functionalised pyridyl networking agents

A series of supramolecular polymers and networks with variable liquid crystalline characteristics have been created. These species are formed through the benzoic acid/pyridine hydrogen bonding of a flexible bis-acid and a mixture of a rigid bis-pyridyl and non-mesogenic tris- and bis-pyridyl molecules. The tris networked systems displayed liquid crystalline characteristics up to and including 31.0% netpoint inclusion. Above this concentration, only crystalline and melting behaviours were observed. The bis-containing polymer system displayed liquid crystalline characteristics up to and including 22.5% inclusion. The phenomenon observed in the tris system would seem to be linked to a statistical correlation of hydrogen bond acceptors and donors. The elimination of liquid crystallinity at lower concentrations of the bis-pyridyl dopant could be attributed to the lower melting nature of that species. Smectic phases were found in both series of complexes in loadings up to 10% of the non-liquid crystalline component. There was also no observed phase segregation of the species after multiple heat/cool cycles and extended periods of time in the isotropic state. This would indicate that the thermodynamically more stable mesogenic phase cannot out-compete the non-liquid crystalline network.     

Synthesis and X-ray investigation of liquid crystalline polymers containing laterally methyl-substituted tolane-based mesogenic side groups

A series of polymethacrylates containing laterally methyl-substituted 4-alkoxy-4-nitrotolane, 4-alkoxy-4'-cyanotolane, and 4-alkoxy-4'-trifluoromethyltolane as mesogenic side groups are presented. The thermal behaviours of the prepared compounds were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, optical polarized microscopy and X-ray diffraction. All of the obtained methacrylate monomers exhibit no mesophase, while most of the synthesized polymers reveal enantiotropic mesomorphism. The polymer containing 4-propyloxy-2'-methyl-4'-nitrotolane side groups was the only one to show no mesomorphic behaviour. The spacer length and the nature of terminal group have a profound influence on the type of mesophase formed and the thermal stability. Incorporation of a lateral methyl-substituent into the mesogenic groups reduces the thermal stabilities of the mesophases. X-ray diffraction reveals that polymers with a smectic A or smectic E phase have the inclination to form a bilayer structure. Increasing the temperature within the smectic phase range, the intermolecular spacing increases while the layer spacing decreases. On the other hand, introducing a lateral substituent into the mesogenic side groups leads to increase in both layer and intermolecular spacing.     

Supramolecular main-chain liquid crystalline polymers and networks with competitive hydrogen bonding

A series of supramolecular polymers and networks with variable liquid crystalline characteristics have been created. These species are formed though the benzoic acid/pyridine associations of a flexible bisacid and a mixture of a rigid bispyridyl and a non-mesogenic tetrapyridyl. The networked systems displayed liquid crystalline characteristics up to and including 22.5% netpoint inclusion. Above this concentration, only crystalline and melting behaviours were observed. This observed phenomenon would seem to be linked to the statistical correlation of hydrogen bond acceptors and donors. There was also no observed phase segregation of the species after multiple heat/cool cycles and extended periods of time in the isotropic state. This would indicate that the thermodynamically more stable mesogenic phase cannot out-compete the non-liquid crystalline network. Computational analysis indicates no significant difference in hydrogen bond strength between the two different hydrogen bond acceptors.     

Ferroelectric liquid crystalline polymers based on mesogens with halogen-containing terminal groups

A new series of halogen-containing side chain ferroelectric liquid crystal polymers was synthesized. Mesophases were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, polarizing optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction and molecular simulation. The behaviour of the liquid crystalline phase was investigated with variation of chiral centres, spacer units and grafted ratios. It was found that the thermal stability and temperature range of the chiral smectic C phase decreased with increasing length of the oligo-oxyethylene spacer, and decreasing mesogenic group content. The bulky substituent attached to the chiral centre reduces molecular packing in smectic liquid crystal phases, which disturbs the orientation of the side chain liquid crystal polymer. Furthermore, the influence of molecular structure on electrooptical properties of FLCPs has been studied by broad band dielectric spectroscopy (from 0.1 to 1 ×10 6 Hz).     

The effect of silver nanoparticles on the phase state of comb-shaped liquid crystalline polymers with cyanobiphenyl mesogenic groups

A new approach is proposed for the preparation of a new class of hybrid polymer systems based on comb-shaped LC polymers with cyanobiphenyl mesogenic groups and silver nanoparticles with dimensions ranging from 5 to 54 nm. A correlation between copolymer composition and dimensions of the formed nanoparticles is established. As the concentration of nanoparticles in LC copolymer is increased, the resultant glass transition temperature increases, and the temperature interval of the existence of LC phase is reduced. This behavior is related to the adsorption of cyanobiphenyl and carboxylic polymer groups on the surface of silver nanoparticles. In this case, the conductivity and dielectric permittivity of the composites are also increased.     

Theoretical study on mesogenic core structures of nematic liquid crystalline compounds

The structures and intermolecular interaction energies of 10 dimers, included in the mesogenic core structures of typical liquid crystalline (LC) compounds, are obtained at the MP2/6-31G(d) level of theory. It is proved that the dispersion energy significantly contributes to the total interaction energy of these dimers. Even when bulky substituents are introduced into the core part, the interaction energy is still large. It is also revealed that when a long intermolecular distance is provided by a high steric repulsion originating from the linkage of two phenyl groups, the dispersion energy is significantly small. However, in this range of intermolecular distances, the electrostatic energy caused by a strong quadrupole-quadrupole attractive interaction plays a dominant role, and as a result, a rather stable dimer is formed. In all 10 dimers, the dispersion, electrostatic, and exchange-repulsion energies strongly depend on the geometrical orientation of the molecules. The calculated interaction energies of these dimers are also compared with the corresponding experimentally measured viscosities. The results suggest an explicit linear relationship between the interaction energies and viscosities.     

Side-chain liquid crystalline polymers with silphenylene-siloxane main chains. III. Synthesis and characterization of polymers with phenyl benzoate mesogenic groups

Side-chain liquid crystalline (SCLC) silphenylene-siloxane polymers with a phenyl benzoate mesogenic group and polymethylene spacers were prepared and characterized, and their properties were compared with those of equivalent SCLC polymers, SCLCPs, with a biphenyl mesogenic group. With identical spacers and terminal substituents, the melting temperatures of the former were much lower, but the isotropization temperatures were lowered to a lesser extent, than those of the latter, and, consequently, a more thermally stable nematic phase was obtained for the former. Both types of SCLCPs formed nematic phases, while polymethylsiloxanes with the same side-chain mesogens exhibited smectic phases with wider temperature ranges. The lower thermal stability of the mesophases in the silphenylene-siloxane SCLCPs compared to those of the SCLC polymethylsiloxanes can be attributed to both the rigidity of the backbone and the greater separation of the side-chains along the main chains of the former.     

Lyotropic liquid crystalline epoxide-amine addition polymers

A new type of amphiphilic polymer is described. It is built up from a hydrophilic main chain and hydrophobic n-alkyl chains directly attached to the monomer units. With this chemical constitution the formation of micelles and micellar aggregates is expected, where the hydrophobic side chains are organised on a convex surface. The polymers are synthesised by the polyaddition of tetra-, hexa- and octaethylene diglycidyl ether and n-dodecyl- and n-hexadecyl amine. Polymers are synthesised by systematic variation of the hydrophilic/lipophilic balance (HLB). Although the HLB of the polymers is varied, only a uniform polymorphism is observed in aqueous solutions. A broad miscibility gap and a hexagonal phase at polymer concentrations of 70–80 wt.% polymer exist. Due to the new head-type constitution of the polymers, the hexagonal phase is expected to be of the inverse type.     

溴原子取代对二茂铁液晶化合物介晶性的影响

二茂铁液晶因其独特的稳定性和易于衍生化受到研究人员的青睐[1- 8] 。我们曾经报道过一类单取代二茂铁液晶的合成与介晶性[9] 。这里我们报道另外一类二茂铁单取代液晶 ,并对分子的长度、溴原子取代对介晶性的影响进行探讨。合成路线如下 :1　实验部分ＢｒｕｃｋｅｒＡＣＥ -2 0 0ｓｐｅｃｔｒｏｍｅｔｅｒ,ＣＤＣｌ3作溶剂。ＮｉｃｏｌｅｔＭａｇｎａ-ＩＲ 5 0 0Ｓｐｅｃｔｒｏｍｅｔｅｒ,ＳｅｒｉｅｓⅡ ,ＫＢｒ压片。ＷＲＳ -ＩＡ ,ＣａｒｌｏＥｒｂａ 1 1 0ｂ。Ｐｅｒｋｉｎ -Ｅｌｍｅｒ 7Ｓｅｒｉｅｓ热分析仪 ,分温速度 1 0℃ /ｍｉ…