Liquid Crystal Polymers

Barzic, Andreea Irina; Albu, Raluca Marinica; Buruiana, Luminita Ioana

doi:10.1002/9781119363910.ch2

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…[ 18–20 ] The orientational properties of lyotropic stiff polymers have been exploited for high‐performance fibers, actuators, and electro‐optical devices through their responses to electric fields and shear forces. [ 21 ]…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[18][19][20] The orientational properties of lyotropic stiff polymers have been exploited for high-performance fibers, actuators, and electro-optical devices through their responses to electric fields and shear forces. [21] Poly (hexyl-isocyanate) (PHIC) is a semi-flexible helical polymer in which both thermotropic and lyotropic nematic LC phases (in chloroform, dichloromethane, and toluene) have been observed. [22] PHIC was selected as a semiflexible polymer ligand because its properties have been intensively studied, its solubility in various organic solvents, and chiral variants have been synthesized.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lyotropic Nematic Phases of Isotropic Nanoparticles via Semiflexible Polymer Ligands

Wong

Toader

Reven

2023

Macromol. Rapid Commun.

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Lyotropic liquid crystalline (LC) nanomaterials are normally achieved through particle shape anisotropy. Herein, it is shown that lyotropic nematic rather than cubic phases are produced from spherical nanoparticles (NPs) with semi-flexible polymer ligands. ZrO 2 nanocrystals (4 nm dia.) are coated with a dense shell of poly(hexyl isocyanate) (PHIC), a helical rod-like polymer that forms lyotropic LC phases in a range of organic solvents. Solvent casted NPs with PHIC ligands above the persistence length form linear assemblies, separated by a characteristic distance related to the chain length while NPs with shorter, rigid rod PHIC ligands pack hexagonally. Concentrated NP-PHIC dispersions present nematic textures similar to the free PHIC nematic solutions but at lower critical concentrations, widening the isotropic-nematic biphasic region. 2 H NMR spectra of the NPs dispersed in a deuterated solvent display quadrupolar splittings that increase with NP concentration, showing that the PHIC ligands are magnetically aligned. The high degree of orientation order is evidence that splaying of the ligand shell transforms the spherical NPs to rod-like shapes that assemble to produce nematic lyotropic LC phases and linear NP arrays. This approach to creating anisotropic assemblies can be extended to other types of spherical NPs and semiflexible polymers.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%