Dynamic Mechanical Behaviour of Some Cholesteryl Liquid Crystals

Dynamic mechanical studies of cholesteric liquid crystalline substances in the solid state have been reported using Du Pont's Dynamic Mechanical Analyser, DMA-981. All the substances showed multiple transitions. There is no common transition though the parent structure was similar in the compounds. These weak transitions are not detectable by DSC and hence appear to be second order transitions possibly arising due to rotation of the molecules around the long axis. Alternatively the lattice defects may also be responsible for such transitions.