Structure-order relationships in liquid crystalline polyesters

Stilbene-containing Thermotropic Liquid Crystalline Polyesters for Aerospace Applications

Materials used in space travel must maintain thermal and dimensional stability in extreme conditions, while remaining melt processable for ease of industrial production. The rigid chemical structure of stilbene often correlates to polymers exhibiting a liquid crystalline morphology and the olefinic bond undergoes a [2 + 2] cycloaddition in the presence of UV light. Based on the combined benefit...

Side-chain liquid-crystalline polyesters for optical information storage.

We report erasable holographic recording with a resolution of at least 2500 lines/mm on unoriented films of sidechain liquid-crystalline polyesters. Recording energies of approximately 1 J/cm(2) have been used. We have obtained a diffraction efficiency of approximately 30% with polarization recording of holograms. The holograms can be erased by heating them to approximately 80 degrees C for app...

Effect of Annealing on Morphology of Thermotropic Liquid Crystalline Polyesters

Liquid crystal polymers with semiflexible polymer backbone exhibit crystalline order despite of some defects in crystal packing. Isothermal heat treatment of the polymers below and above their liquid crystalline temperatures is expected to provide the necessary energy and time for the molecular chains to overcome the defects in crystal packing and to be arranged in a more perfect crystal lattic...

Order and Disorder in Liquid-Crystalline Elastomers

Order and frustration play an important role in liquid-crystalline polymer networks (elastomers). The first part of this review is concerned with elastomers in the nematic state and starts with a discussion of nematic polymers, the properties of which are strongly determined by the anisotropy of the polymer backbone. Neutron scattering and X-ray measurements provide the basis for a description ...

Effect of heat and film thickness on a photoinduced phase transition in azobenzene liquid crystalline polyesters