Liquid crystalline networks composed of rigid spacerless monomers: kinetics of network formation, anisotropic structure and mechanical properties

Abstract

Rigid isotropic and anisotropic networks were formed by photopolymerization of spacerless liquid crystalline diacrylates and of mixtures of these diacrylates with spacerless monoacrylates in the isotropic and liquid crystalline state. The total conversion of double bonds and the orientational order is strongly restricted for the case of network formation based solely on the diacrylates due to steric constraints. These constraints are considerably relaxed in networks formed from mixtures of di‐and monoacrylates. Such networks display a well defined orientational order. The dynamical mechanical properties were found to correspond to those found for networks based on diacrylates with flexible spacers, the anisotropy of the mechanical properties of oriented networks is weak. © 1995 Hüthig & Wepf Verlag, Zug