Main-chain biodegradable liquid crystal based on cholesteryl end-capped polycarbonate copolymers |
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| Authors: | Xiaoxu Xu Guixiang Chen Yanhua Lu Jianshe Hu |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Chemical Engineering, Eastern Liaoning University, Dandong, People’s Republic of China;2. Center for Molecular Science and Engineering, College of Science, Northeastern University, Shenyang, People’s Republic of China;3. Key Laboratory of Functional Textile Materials, Eastern Liaoning University, Dandong, Liaoning, People’s Republic of China |
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| Abstract: | Main-chain biodegradable liquid crystal (LC) based on cholesteryl end-capped polycarbonate copolymers was investigated. The novel LC was synthesised through ring-opening copolymerisation of trimethylene carbonate with ε-caprolactone (CL) initiated by cholesterol, without adding any catalyst. The chemical structure of the resulting polymers was confirmed by 1H NMR. The liquid crystalline properties were validated by X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry and polarising optical microscopy. The results showed that the synthesised polycarbonate copolymers Chol-(TMCL)x + y exhibited liquid crystallinity in particular temperature ranges because of the incorporation of the cholesterol moieties. Furthermore, the effect of CL content on the mesomorphism properties of Chol-(TMCL)x+y was also investigated; the higher the CL content, the lower the mesomorphism properties. It might be attributed to the hindered orientation of LC caused by the crystallinity of the poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) segments in the polymer chain. |
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| Keywords: | Biodegradable liquid crystal trimethylene carbonate ε-caprolactone cholesteryl phase behaviour |
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