Synthesis and spinning of a thermotropic liquid crystal copolyester containing a semirigid cycloaliphatic spacer

✍ Scribed by Shawn Jenkins; Vivan Thammongkol; Malcolm B. Polk

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 252 KB
• Volume: 36
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0887-624X
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-0518(19980715)36:9<1473::aid-pola15>3.0.co;2-1

✦ Synopsis

A thermotropic, liquid crystalline copolyester, based on 2-chlorohydroquinone, 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol and terephthaloyl chloride, has been synthesized and melt spun. The cyclohexanedimethylene moiety acts as a semirigid spacer, introducing flexibility while preserving the thermotropic nature of the polymer. Melt-spun fibers were observed to have a high degree of molecular alignment owing to the nematic nature of the melt. Both polymer and fiber properties have been characterized. Characterization techniques used to this end include elemental analysis, hot-stage polarized light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, dilute solution viscometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis.