Polyamides crystalline aromatic

Liquid crystalline aromatic polyamides were the first chemical class to be commercialised. The best known example is Kevlar fibre which is spun from liquid crystalline solution to obtain the benefit of the high orientation present in the nematic phase. Subsequently, melt-processable main-chain polyesters were developed and brought to the market (Amoco with Xydar, Hoechst-Celanese with Vectra). 

A lyotropic liquid crystalline aromatic polyamide, sold under the trade name of Kevlar, is available commercially ... 

Example 4.12 Synthesis of a Lyotropic Liquid Crystalline Aromatic Polyamide from Terepbtbalic Acid Dicbloride and Silylated 2-chloro-1,4-Phenylenediamine by Polycondensation in Solution... 

Crystalline aromatic polyamides are also used in fiber applications. An example of this type of material is Kevlar , a high-strength fiber used in bulletproof vests and composite... 

Crystalline aromatic polyamides are also used in fiber applications. An example of this type of material is Kevlar , a high-strength fiber used in bulletproof vests and in composite structures. A similar material, which can be processed more easily, is Nomex . It can be used to give flame retardance to cloth when used as a coating. ... 

Similady, hquid-crystal polymers exhibit considerable order in the hquid state, either in solution (lyotropic) or melt (thermotropic). When crystallized from solution or melt, they have a high degree of extended-chain crystallinity, and thus have superior mechanical properties. Kevlar (Du Pont) is an aromatic polyamide (atamid) with the repeating unit designated as (2). It is spun into... 

The primary driving forces behind investigation of new solvents include environmental concerns and the abiUty to form Hquid crystals in the new solvent systems. By analogy with Kevlar, a synthetic aromatic polyamide fiber, spinning from a Hquid crystalline solution should yield cellulose fibers with improved strength, as has been demonstrated in laboratory experiments. 

The reinforcing filler usually takes the form of fibres but particles (for example glass spheres) are also used. A wide range of amorphous and crystalline materials can be used as reinforcing fibres. These include glass, carbon, boron, and silica. In recent years, fibres have been produced from synthetic polymers-for example, Kevlar fibres (from aromatic polyamides) and PET fibres. The stress-strain behaviour of some typical fibres is shown in Fig. 3.2. 

Weathering tests, 245 Wholly aromatic liquid crystalline polyesters, degradation of, 38 Wholly aromatic polyamides, 136-137, 139 synthesis of, 184-189 Wholly aromatic polyesters, 25-26, 32 copolymerization and, 35 synthesis of, 71-72... 

Both low molecular weight materials [145] and polymers [146,147] can show liquid crystallinity. In the case of polymers, it frequently occurs in very stiff chains such as the Kevlars and other aromatic polyamides. It can also occur with flexible chains, however, and it is these flexible chains in the elastomeric state that are the focus of the present discussion. One reason such liquid-crystalline elastomers are of particular interest is the fact that (i) they can be extensively deformed (as described for elastomers throughout this chapter), (ii) the deformation produces alignment of the chains, and (iii) alignment of the chains is central to the formation of liquid-crystalline phases. Because of fascinating properties related to their novel structures, liquid-crystalline elastomers have been the subject of numerous studies, as described in several detailed reviews [148-150]. The purpose here will be to mention some typical elastomers exhibiting liquid crystallinity, to describe some of their properties, and to provide interpretations of some of these properties in molecular terms. 

Crystalline polymers exhibit the following basic properties They are opaque as long as the size of the crystallites or spherulites, respectively, lies above the wavelength of light. Their solubility is restricted to few organic solvents at elevated temperature. The following crystalline polymers have attained technical importance as thermoplastic materials polyethylene, polypropylene, aliphatic polyamides, aliphatic/aromatic polyamides, aliphatic/aromatic polyesters, poly-oxymethylene, polytetrafluoroethylene, poly(phenylene sulfide), poly(arylene ether ketone)s. 

Unusual properties of fully aromatic polyesters are observed if they have at least partially a rigid planar chain structure. In particular, they can form thermotropic liquid crystalline states (see Example 4-5). As already discussed in Sect. 1.2.4 an important structural prerequisit for LCPs of Type A in order to attain the liquid crystalline state of aromatic polyesters (and aromatic polyamides, see Example 4-14), is a rigid main chain according to the following construction principle ... 

Since Robinson [1] discovered cholesteric liquid-crystal phases in concentrated a-helical polypeptide solutions, lyotropic liquid crystallinity has been reported for such polymers as aromatic polyamides, heterocyclic polymers, DNA, cellulose and its derivatives, and some helical polysaccharides. These polymers have a structural feature in common, which is elongated (or asymmetric) shape or chain stiffness characterized by a relatively large persistence length. The minimum persistence length required for lyotropic liquid crystallinity is several nanometers1. 

Both lyotropic and thermotropic liquid-crystalline synthetic polymers have been widely studied. Aromatic polyamides constitute the most important class forming liquid-crystalline solutions the solvents are either powerfully protonating acids such as 100% sulphuric acid, chloro-, fluoro- or methane-sulphonic acid, and anhydrous hydrogen fluoride, or aprotic dipolar solvents such as dimethyl acetamide containing a small percentage, usually 2-5 %, of a salt such as lithium chloride or calcium chloride. Such solutions constitute a nematic phase within certain limits. Some criteria for formation of a nematic instead of an isotropic phase are ... 

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