Biopolymers, lyotropic liquid crystalline

Because biopolymers may have properties uncommon in synthetic systems, they can be very attractive as model systems to test specific ideas. An early example of this can be seen in the work on PBLG, a synthetic polypeptide. Although the motivation for its original synthesis failed, it provided a firm basis for many of the early studies on lyotropic liquid crystalline polymers. It was one of the first systems to have its phase diagram characterised, for comparison with Flory s predictions, and a study of its viscosity demonstrated that there is a non-monotonic increase in viscosity with concentration as the liquid crystalline phase is entered. 

Shown in the table below, the earliest recognition of liquid crystalline behavior, observed on a thermotropic cholesteric small molecule, is attributed to Reinitzer in 1888. In the Forties and Fifties, polymeric liquid crystallinity was noted and widely researched. The systems studied were mostly natural and synthetic lyotropic biopolymers such as... 

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