Liquid crystal polymers traditional thermoplastics

Engineering polymers have been commercially available for many decades and a number of new high performance materials have also been introduced onto the marketplace during the last twenty years or so. Polymer scientists continue to develop higher performance thermoplastics that can challenge traditional materials such as metal and thermosets. Indeed, the last five years have seen substantial growth in top of the range materials such as liquid crystal polymers and polyketones. 

Polyphthalamide (PPA) is a semi-crystalline engineering polymer that bridges the cost-performance gap between traditional engineering thermoplastics such as polycarbonate (PC), polyamides (PA polyester (PET, PBT), acetals (POM) and higher-cost speciality pol5nners such as liquid crystal polymers (LCP), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) and polyetherimide (PEI). 

The increasing interest in liquid crystal polymer blends arises not only from the academic field, but also from industries focusing on innovation. Despite the higher cost of liquid crystal polymers, blending them with traditional thermoplastics results in some very competitive advantages compared to ordinary materials. The unique properties of the liquid crystal polymer blends make them not only remarkable objects for academic investigation, but also extremely versatile soft materials for industry. 

Dow Chemical developed liquid crystalline polymers (LCP) based on diglycidyl ether of 4-4 -dihydroxy-o -methylstilbene in the 1980s (62,63). Liquid crystal thermoplastics and thermosets based on this novel chemistry showed excellent combinations of thermal, mechanical, and chemical properties, imachievable with traditional epoxies. However, commercialization of these products has not materialized. 

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