Molecular Design of Side-Group Liquid Crystalline Polymers: Understanding Their Interactions with Small Molecule Liquid Crystal Solvent
Liquid crystal (LC) gels – the combination of macromolecules with small molecule LCs – couple the elasticity and mechanical strength of polymers to the order inherent to LCs and are attractive to many researchers hoping to marry liquid crystals' optical and electro-optical responsiveness with...
| Summary: | Liquid crystal (LC) gels – the combination of macromolecules with small molecule LCs – couple the
elasticity and mechanical strength of polymers to the order inherent to LCs and are attractive to many
researchers hoping to marry liquid crystals' optical and electro-optical responsiveness with polymers'
mechanical strength and ease of processing. In particular, side-group liquid crystal polymers (SGLCPs)
are flexible-chain polymers that are functionalized with LC side-groups. Here we introduce the concept
of polymer dopants: homogenously dissolved LC-containing SGLCP homopolymers that are molecularly
designed for solubility in and coupling to small molecule LC solvents. Using polymer analogous
chemistry (changing the molecular makeup of the side groups and their linkers, while keeping backbone
molecular weight, polydispersity index, and degree of polymerization constant), we’ve targeted the effect
of side-group orientation, dipole position and strength, spacer length and linking-group type on
polymer solubility and bulk material properties. We've shown that, at low concentration, these dopants
can have significant effects on the bulk material properties of two types of LCs: ferroelectric and vertically
aligned nematic LCs. |
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