Effect of core group substituents on the monomer mesophase,photocuring, and film viscoelastic properties of mesogenic diacrylates

In this paper, the influence of molecular structure variations on the mesophase behavior, photocurability, and film properties of polymerizable mesogenic diacrylates is reported. The effect of methoxy or chloro substituent on the mesophase behavior of the monomers, present at the 2‐position of the phenylene core, in comparison to the unsubstituted core, has been studied using thermal and photo‐DSC techniques. These monomers were used in combination with a chiral dopant to form cholesteric mesophases, which was subsequently crosslinked through photopolymerization. Optical microscopy and polarized optical microscopy (POM) were used to study the morphology of monomers as well as the photopolymerized films. Optical images show the influence of chiral dopant on the texture present in the films, both before and after the crosslinking. POM images show the mesophase present in the monomers and the free films. Evaluation of viscoelastic properties of the photocured films demonstrates the influence of mesogenic core substituents on the network transition temperature, modulus, and damping characteristics. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.