Keywords

photopolymerization, diacrylate monomers, liquid crystals, polymerization kinetics, liquid crystal hosts, nanophase separation

Abstract

Photopolymerizable diacrylate monomers dissolved in fluid-layer smectic A and smectic C liquid crystal (LC) hosts exhibited significant spatial segregation and orientation that depend strongly on monomer structure. Small, flexible monomers such as 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate (HDDA) oriented parallel to the smectic layers and intercalated, whereas rod-shaped mesogen-like monomers such as 1,4-di-(4-(6-acryloyloxyhexyloxy)benzoyloxy)-2-methylbenzene (C6M) oriented normal to the smectic layers and collected within them. Such spatial segregation caused by the smectic layering dramatically enhanced photopolymerization rates; for HDDA, termination rates were reduced, whereas for C6M, both the termination and propagation rates were increased. These polymerization precursor structures suggest novel materials-design paradigms for gel LCs and nanophase-separated polymer systems.

Original Publication Citation

C. Allan Guymon et al. ,Effects of Monomer Structure on Their Organization and Polymerization in a Smectic Liquid Crystal.Science275,57-59(1997).DOI:10.1126/science.275.5296.57

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

1997-01-03

Publisher

American Association for the Advancement of Science

Language

English

College

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering

Department

Chemical Engineering

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

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