Coupling and memory in liquid crystal elastomers

Mitchell, G.R., Roberts, P.M.S., Ahn, K.H., Davis, F.J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0462-872X, Hasson, C., Hirschmann, H. and Pople, J.A. (1997) Coupling and memory in liquid crystal elastomers. Macromolecular Symposia, 117 (1). pp. 21-31. ISSN 1022-1360 doi: 10.1002/masy.19971170106

Abstract/Summary

The polymer backbone of a side-chain liquid crystal polymer exhibits an anisotropic shape due to the coupling of the liquid crystal orientational order of the mesogenic side-chains to the backbone. The magnitude and sign of this coupling may be controlled by chemical design. The introduction of chemical cross-links in to such a system provides both a memory of the anisotropic organisation and a mechanism by which the microscopic anisotropy can be realised at a macroscopic level. We show how this anisotropic network structure yields new phenomena when electric or mechanical fields are applied.