Liquid crystalline polymers

The suitabilities of thermo-optometry and differential scanning calorimetry for the characterization of certain copolyethers were compared. Under certain conditions, such polymers do not exhibit the endotherm signal corresponding to the solid/liquid crystalline transition in the DSC curves. Thermo-optometry provides evidence of these phase transitions into the liquid crystalline state, and is a very useful additional method.     

Structural models for some crystalline and liquid crystalline polymers

Structural models for the crystalline and liquid crystalline smectic phase are presented for polymethylsiloxanes with mesogenic side groups and for some crystalline and lyotropic liquid crystalline cholesteric phases of cellulose derivatives. Optical and X-ray methods have been applied in these investigations.     

State of radon in crystalline polymers

The state of radon in crystalline polymers, polyethylene and polypropylene, has been studied by methods of macro- and microauto-radiography. Radon-222 was introduced into the samples by diffusion from the gas phase at various temperatures and time intervals. Effects on the state of radon of such factors as density and polymer crystallinity, extent of macromolecular chain branching, spherulite radius, content of different admixtures, -ray photon irradiation dose or irradiation with accelerated electrons, etc., were investigated. In pure polymers, radon was found to be in an atomically dispersed state. Radon forms thermally stable accumulations at the surface as well as in the bulk of the material due to admixtures, gas bubbles and crazes. The probable effect of radon's tendency to form accumulations on the kinetics of its diffusion in crystalline polymers is discussed.     

Advances in liquid crystalline conjugated polymers

We review advances in liquid crystalline (LC) conjugated polymers by focusing on (i) ferroelectric and (ii) photoresponsive LC conjugated polymers. In Part 1, LC polyphenylene derivatives were synthesized through substitution of fluorine‐containing chiral LC groups into side chains. Poly(para‐phenylene) [ P1 ] and poly(meta‐phenylene) [ P2 ] derivatives showed chiral smectic C phases responsible for ferroelectricity. They exhibited quick response to electric field, giving switching times of <1 s between two bistable states. The spontaneous polarization (P_S) of P2 remained unchanged even after the electric field became zero, affording the residual polarization (P_R) whose value was the same as that of P_S. This indicates that P2 has a potential memory function based on FLC nature. In Part 2, poly(para‐phenylenevinylene) [ P5 ] and poly(bithienylene‐phenylene) [ P6 ] derivatives were synthesized by introducing dithienylethene moieties into side chains. Drastic quenching of fluorescence occurred when the photoresponsive moiety changed from an open form to a closed one upon an irradiation of ultraviolet light. The quenched fluorescence was recovered through a photoisomerization from the closed form to the open one. Macroscopically aligned P6 film exhibited a linearly polarized fluorescence with significant anisotropy. Reversible quenching and emitting behavior in anisotropic fluorescence was controlled by the photochemical switching. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 2463–2485, 2009     

Photoresponsive liquid crystalline and amorphous polymers

Isomerization processes of azobenzene dyes dissolved in a glassy polymeric matrix or attached in glassy amorphous or liquid crystalline polymers to the backbone as side groups are induced by light. The isomerization process, in turn, causes the dye to reorient provided that polarized light is used: the long axis of the dye is oriented perpendicular to the polarization direction in the stationary case. Such a reorientation gives rise to strong modifications of the optical properties. This contribution is concerned with the analysis of the correlation between the nature of the azobenzene dyes, the isomerization, reorientation and modulations discussed above and with possible applications in the optical holographic storage. Considered are, in particular, dye/matrix combinations giving rise to nonlinear holographic responses, two photon holography, transient holographic modes applicable for holographic displays and the optical switching of other than optical properties.     

Excimer formation in crystalline and nanostructured coordination polymers

A new anthracene-based ligand shows emission shift and decrease of excimer band upon coordination to silver ions when crystallized from methanol. Changing the solvent leads to the formation of amorphous nanowires exhibiting large emission bands before transforming into a second crystalline compound with excimer emission similar in intensity to the ligand alone.     

Liquid crystalline polymers at interfaces

Main chain liquid crystalline polymers (LCPs) at solid-nematic interfaces exhibit a variety of phase transition between distorted and undistorted states. In one case the transition results from the confinement of grafted chains immersed in a nematic solvent and subject to homeotropic anchoring. The general features of the transition are similar for long and for short chains. The detailed physics is different since long chains exhibit Gaussian, entropic elasticity while the elasticity of the short chain is due to their rigidity. As a result it is possible to weakly confine long chains without triggering a distortion while for short chains the nematic distortion occurs simultaneously with the buckling of the rod like LCPs. Related effects are found for uniformly adsorbed LCPs and for free, confined chains. Different scenarios are expected when homogeneous anchoring is imposed.     

Negative thermal expansion in oriented crystalline polymers

Measurements on the thermal expansivity α_∥ and α_? (along and normal to the draw direction, respectively) have been carried out for a series of oriented polymers with widely different crystallinities (0.36–0.81) and draw ratios (1–20) and over large temperature ranges covering the major amorphous transitions in each case. While α_? increases with temperature, α_∥ tends to decrease sharply above the transition temperature. For highly crystalline polymers, α_∥ decreases to values typical of polymer crystals (?1 × 10^?5 K^?1) and this can be attributed to the constraining effect of the crystalline bridges connecting the crystalline blocks. However, for polymers of lower crystallinity, α_∥ may become an order of magnitude more negative and this remarkable phenomenon is attributed to the rubber–elastic contraction of taut tie-moleucles. Since taut tie-molecules and bridges have drastically different effects on α_∥ at high temperatures, this allows a rough determination of their relative fractions.     

Bond rupture in highly oriented crystalline polymers

The strength-limiting process in the fracture of semicrystalline fibers and highly oriented films is the rupture of tie molecules connecting the folded chain lamellae in the machine direction. This view is supported by the data on stress and temperature dependence of lifetime of fibers under load and on radical formation during the fracture experiment. The observed tensile strength, however, is about 10 times smaller and the number of fractured chains between 100 and 1000 times larger than expected on the basis of the known number of tie molecules in the fracture plane. This discrepancy is a consequence of the inhomogeneity of the micromorphology of fiber structure, which causes a much larger stress concentration on the most unfavorably located tie molecules than the average value one would expect in the case of perfectly uniform stress distribution on identical tie molecules. The fluctuation of amorphous layer thickness, of number and length of tie molecules, produces such a high stress concentration on some tie molecules throughout the sample that they rupture long before the average stress concentration is sufficient for chain fracture. By accumulation of damage caused by gradual chain rupture the weakening of the sample locally proceeds so far that at the maximum damage concentration, microcracks start to form, and the fiber breaks.     

Factors affecting stress transmission in crystalline polymers

The paper is concerned with stress transmission in and around the molecular ties which connect lamellae in many semicrystalline polymers. Assuming a continuum model, finite element calculations have been performed to investigate stresses and displacements for a cylindrical tie embedded in a sheath of lamellar crystal. Two specific cases were studied: the single-ended case where the tie enters the lamella from one side only, and the double-ended case where it passes right through the lamellar crystal. Elastic constants for crystalline polyethylene were assumed, and a variety of different geometries were investigated, corresponding to single-chain or multichain ties with sheaths of various diameters. The finite element study confirmed that the distance for stress diffusion from the tie into the lamellar sheath can be quite large, and that there are significant displacements due to tensile deformation of the tie within the crystal and shear deformation of the lamellar sheath. An interesting feature in the case of multichain ties is that tensile stress is concentrated around the outer surface of the tie. An analytical model is proposed, based upon shear lag theory. This model considers only the tensile stresses in the tie and the shear stresses in the sheath, and gives results which are fairly similar to those of the finite element calculations. Finally, the results of this study are applied to the problem of stress transmission in an oriented polymer having a lamellar structure. The main factors influencing stress transmission are: (i) the ratio G/E of the crystalline phase; (ii) the ratio of tie radius to lamellar crystal thickness; and (iii) the proportion of ties in the interface. By examining the range of values which (ii) and (iii) may take, it is concluded that the effective stiffness of intercrystalline ties can only be about 0.25 to 0.7 of the theoretical chain stiffness in most cases.     

Relaxation processes in oriented liquid crystalline polymers

A review is presented of research on oriented thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers undertaken at Leeds University. A range of main-chain polyesters has been studied based on 1,4-hydroxybenzoic acid and 2,6-hydroxynaphthoic acid as the primary monomers. By using a combination of dynamic mechanical, dielectric and NMR measurements insight has been gained into the molecular motions associated with the three principal relaxation processes. The behaviour in tension, for stresses parallel and perpendicular to the principal orientation direction, has been related to that in shear by use of mechanical models.     

Electromechanical effects in ferroelectric liquid crystalline polymers

Electric fields can induce mechanical vibrations in planar aligned sandwich cells of ferroelectric liquid crystals. Measurements on a polysiloxane and a polyacrylate side chain polymer proved that the electromechanical effect also exists in ferroelectric liquid crystalline polymers. The main characteristics of the electromechanical responses of these polymers are described and compared to the response of low molecular weight ferroelectric liquid crystals. According to the proposed interpretation, the vibrations in the direction parallel to both the smectic layers and cell substrates are due to coupling between the director rotation and the flow, while the resonances in the vibrations normal to the plates are connected to layer deformations.     

Thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers. I. Cholesterol-containing polymers and copolymers

An approach to the creation of thermotropic cholesterol-containing liquid crystalline polymers by the chemical binding of cholesterol molecules with side chains of comblike polymers is presented. This type of structure permits a decrease in the steric hindrances provided by the backbone chains for the purpose of realizing the liquid crystalline state. A number of new cholesteric esters of poly(N-methacryloyl-ω-aminocarbonic acid)s (PChMAA-n) with different side-chain lengths (n = 2–11) as well as a series of copolymers of ChMA-n with n-alkylacrylates and n-alkylmethacrylates have been synthesized. The experimental evidence of liquid crystalline structure formation in these polymers in glass, viscoelastic, and fluid states is discussed. Molecular and supermolecular structures of cholesterol-containing comblike polymers have been studied and the model of macromolecular packing in the liquid crystalline state is proposed. It is shown that the existence of a layered order of side methylene groups together with ordering of cholesterol groups is necessary to the production of the liquid crystalline state in these polymers.     

Piezochromic fluorescence in liquid crystalline conjugated polymers

Liquid crystalline diphenylacetylene polymer derivatives showed piezochromic fluorescence via order-to-disorder phase transition.     

Relationship between structure and conformation in liquid crystalline polymers

Our studies on the nematic phase of different kinds of thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers tend to focus on the following question: what about the anisotropy of the backbone conformation in the orientational medium imposed by its mesogenic groups ? By means of small angle neutron scattering (SANS) different features are qualitatively and quantitatively discussed. In the case of liquid crystal side chain polymers, the chain anisotropy is essentially driven by thermodynamical, structural and chemical considerations. In addition, in the case of liquid crystal main chain polymers, hairpin defects are observed for sufficiently long polymers.     

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.