The growth of highly ordered textures in planar poly(γ-benzylglutamate) liquid crystals

We have observed the growth of highly ordered textures in homogeneously aligned poly(γ-benzyl-glutamate) (PBG) liquid crystals as the polymer concentration increases. The textures are similar to the hexagonal columnar textures exhibited by recent studies on highly concentrated solutions of helical biological polymers. In a geometry of homeotropic alignment, no evidence of such texture growth was seen, which is probably due to strong binding interactions between PBG polymers and the substrates.