Influence of crosslinking conditions on the phase behavior of a polyacrylate-based liquid-crystalline elastomer

The influence of crosslinking conditions (γ-radiation-induced and chemical crosslinking above and below the clearing point) on the phase behavior of a liquid-crystalline polyacrylate-based elastomer is shown and discussed. The network formation in samples γ-irradiated in the nematic phase results in an increase of the clearing point T_n-i which does not depend on the crosslinking density expressed as the ratio of weight-average molecular weight over number-average molecular weight between crosslinks M _w/M _c within a wide M _w/M _c range. The distorting action of the crosslinking agent at the same temperature leads to the opposite tendency in the change of T_n-i. Crosslinking in the isotropic phase shows a strong decrease in T_n-i.