Liquid crystal polymers applications

NHydroxyben2oic acid is of significant commercial importance. The most familiar application is the use of several of its esters as preservatives, known as parabens. Also of interest is the use in liquid crystal polymer applications. 

We are all familiar with tire tliree states of matter gases, liquids and solids. In tire 19tli century the liquid crystal state was discovered [1 and 2] tliis can be considered as tire fourtli state of matter [3].The essential features and properties of liquid crystal phases and tlieir relation to molecular stmcture are discussed here. Liquid crystals are encountered in liquid crystal displays (LCDs) in digital watches and otlier electronic equipment. Such applications are also considered later in tliis section. Surfactants and lipids fonn various types of liquid crystal phase but this is discussed in section C2.3. This section focuses on low-molecular-weight liquid crystals, polymer liquid crystals being discussed in tire previous section. 

Low molecular mass compounds capable of forming liquid crystals have been known since the late 1880s. They did not assume commercial importance until the late 1960s, however, when their properties were exploited in the design of electronic displays. Following the development of commercial applications for liquid crystals, polymers began to be studied for their potential in this application. 

Report 91 Recent Developments in Epoxy Resins, I. Hamerton, University of Surrey. Report 118 Liquid Crystal Polymers - Synthesis, Properties and Applications, D. Coates, CRL Ltd. 

Electro-optic materials can be made using liquid crystal polymer combinations. In these applications, termed polymer-stabilized liquid crystals [83,86], the hquid crystal is not removed after polymerization of the monomer and the resulting polymer network stabilizes the liquid crystal orientation. 

Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD). Liquid crystal displays, once limited to small devices such as calculators, are now displacing color CRT (cathode ray tube) displays in commercial quantities. The ability to fabricate these display devices at high quality and at low cost is partially due to the wider spread use of photopolymer-based materials. Photopolymer technology is being used for the alignment of liquid crystal (LC) elements (49), the orientation of ferroelectric materials (50), the synthesis of LC polymers (57) and the manufacture of color filters for liquid crystal display applications (52). 

M. Grell, D.D.C. Bradley, M. Inbasekaran, and E.P. Woo, A glass-forming conjugated main-chain liquid crystal polymer for polarized electroluminescence applications, Adv. Mater., 9 798-802, 1997. 

Aerosol spray delivery, 23 196 Aerosol sprays, 7 773-774 Aerospace applications aluminum alloys, 2 340 artificial graphite in, 72 740-741 for high performance fibers, 13 397-398 of liquid-crystal polymers, 20 85 metal-matrix composites in, 16 191 polyimide matrix composites in, 20 284 Aerospace bearings, corrosion resistance of, 74 452... 

Liquid Crystal Polymers - Synthesis, Properties and Applications, D. Coates, CRL Ltd. 

The class of polyester-based liquid crystal polymers (LCPs) represent one of the most attractive materials in the field of engineering thermoplastics because of their superior mechanical properties, heat resistance, accuracy of dimensions, moldability and the excellent balance of these properties [1-5]. LCPs have been recently expanding their applications, in particular, those for precision electronic parts appropriate for surface mount technology (SMT). 

Connectors, switches, electric distributors, fuse boxes and other electric fittings need a subtle balance of electrical and mechanical properties, durability, cost and aesthetics. This broad field creates fierce competition not only between engineering thermoplastics and SMC/BMC for the main applications but also with polypropylene and polyethylene or PVC for the lower performance parts and, at the opposite end of the scale, with high-tech plastics such as polyetherketone, polyetherimide, liquid crystal polymers. .. For example, without claiming to be exhaustive ... 

A. A. Collyer (Ed.). Liquid Crystal Polymers From Structures to Applications, Elsevier Applied Science, London, New York (1992). 

A very high price and performance family of polymers called liquid crystal polymers (LCPs) exhibit extremely high mechanical and thermal properties. As their ease of processing and price improve, they may find application in thin-wall, high strength parts such as nails, bolts, and fasteners where metal parts cannot be used for reasons of conductivity, electromagnetic characteristics, or corrosion. 

Acrylic ester polymers Acrylonitrile polymers Cellulose esters). Engineering plastics (qv) such as acetal resins (qv), polyamides (qv), polycarbonate (qv), polyesters (qv), and poly(phenylene sulfide), and advanced materials such as liquid crystal polymers, polysulfone, and polyetheretherketone are used in high performance applications they are processed at higher temperatures than their commodity counterparts (see Polymers containing sulfur). 

Applications. The polyamides have important applications. The very high degree of polymer orientation that is achieved when liquid crystalline solutions are extruded imparts exceptionally high strengths and moduli to polyamide libers and lilms. DuPont markets such polymers, e g. Kevlar, and Monsanto has a similar product, e.g.. X-500. which consists of polyamide and hydrazide-lype polymers. Liquid-crystal polymers arc also used in olccirnnpnc displays. 

RPs that combine two different materials (plastic matrix and reinforcement) are a separate major and important segment in the plastic industry. They are also called plastic composites and composites. There are also self-reinforcing plastics such as liquid crystal polymers (Chapter 1) and others.301 It is a fact that RPs have not come near to realizing their great potential in a multitude of applications usually due to cost limitations that particularly involves the use of expensive fiber reinforcements (carbon, graphite, silica, etc.).1 Information on thermoplastic and thermoset plastic RPs are reviewed in Chapter 15. 

Liquid crystal polymers (LCPs) have been a source of considerable interest for some time, as they have been shown to offer particular advantages in terms of their processability and physical properties which make them attractive in a wide range of engineering applications.346 Serrano and his colleagues have reviewed metallomesogenic polymers, including the liquid crystalline properties of several of the platinum poly-yndiyl polymers described above.85,86... 

Another saturated tetrahydrofuryl core has found application as a component of liquid crystals. Cholesteric liquid crystal polymers are useful as photostable UV filters in cosmetic and pharmaceutical preparations for the protection of human epidermis and hair against UV radiation, especially in the range 280-450nm <2000DEP19848130>. Fused bifuran 81 is a suitable monomer for the preparation of these desired polymers as it contains the requisite characteristics of having more than one chiral, bifunctional subunit type which is capable of forming a cholesteric liquid crystal phase with a pitch of <450 nm. It also contains an achiral aromatic or cycloaliphatic hydroxyl or amino carboxylic acid subunit, achiral aromatic or cycloaliphatic dicarboxylic acids, and/or achiral aromatic or cycloaliphatic diols or diamines. Polymers prepared from suitable monomers, such as diol 81, can also be used as UV reflectors, UV stabilizers, and multilayer pigments. 

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