Title | Orientational ordering of short LC rods in an anisotropic liquid crystalline polymer glass. |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2004 |
Authors | Gutman, L, Cao, J, Swager, TM, Thomas, EL |
Journal | Chemical Physics Letters |
Volume | 389 |
Pagination | 198–203 |
ISSN | 0009-2614 |
Keywords | orientational ordering liq crystal rod anisotropic mesophase polymer glass |
Abstract | The orientational phase diagram and ordering of guest liq. cryst. (LC) rods in a host liq. cryst. polymer (LCP) matrix quenched below the glass transition is detd. by field theory. Microscopic anisotropic interactions can align the LC rods to each other and also align LCP matrix side chains and the LC rods in the plane normal to the local LCP chain contour. The authors' numerical anal. suggest ways to exploit host entropy, anisotropy of microscopic interactions and manipulate properties of LC rods for modern applications. The authors predict a nematic-nematic discontinuous orientational transition from a guest stabilized to a guest-host stabilized region and a reentrant transition from a guest stabilized nematic region to a host only stabilized regime. A detailed anal. of phase boundaries transitions and ordering is presented. [on SciFinder(R)] |
DOI | 10.1016/j.cplett.2004.02.086 |