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Published May 22, 2001 | public
Journal Article

Shear Aligning Properties of a Main-Chain Thermotropic Liquid Crystalline Polymer

Abstract

We report the first direct, quantitative measurements of the shear aligning properties of a main-chain thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer (LCP). We find that a model thermotrope with alternating mesogen and spacer structure is of the shear aligning type throughout its nematic range. The director rotates uniformly in the shear flow toward the Leslie alignment angle as probed by in situ flow conoscopy. The Leslie alignment angle becomes progressively closer to the flow direction as temperature decreases, corresponding to a decrease of the tumbling parameter λ with increasing order parameter S. Our measurements of λ(S) enable direct comparison with predictions from molecular models, which predict that shear alignment prevails in the limit of flexible nematic chains. This is in direct contrast to rodlike lyotropic LCPs for which director tumbling is the rule.

Additional Information

© 2001 American Chemical Society. Received October 27, 2000. Publication Date (Web): April 26, 2001. Financial support was provided by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Liquid Crystal-MURI (Grant F49620-97). We thank Prof. Peter Palffy-Muhoray of Kent State University for assistance with liquid crystal alignment.

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 26, 2023