| Abstract: | The crystal-nematic phase transition of a copolyester consisting of 20 mol% poly(ethylene terephthalate) and 80 mol% p-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHB) was characterized by depression of the crystal-nematic transition by the addition of a liquid crystal diluent. This copolyester contains blocks of crystalline PHB. Its transition behavior was compared with thatrandom copolyester with diluent of the same composition. From the extrapolated transition temperature depression data, the heat of transition per mole of p-oxybenzoate was calculated as about 1.3 kcal/mol, with an entropy of about 2 cal/deg mol. This assumes that only the p-oxybenzoate unit crystallized from the nematic state. The validity of the Flory-Huggins model for this transition point depression was confirmed graphically by comparison with two different thermotropic-liquid crystal polyesters. These results may represent the first reported crystal-nematic temperatures and heats generated by the dilution method for liquid crystal copolyesters of this type. |
