Liquid Crystalline Cyanate Esters

Cyanate ester-based liquid crystals have interested researchers. The cyanate trimerization at the mesogenic transition temperature can be capitalized to consolidate the formed mesophase. Mormann and Zimmermann have carried out a 

Curing of liquid crystalline cyanate ester resins in electric fields is a new trend in thermoset design and processing and can be used to control directly their mechanical and physical properties. Combining new LC materials with non-LC cyanate monomers leads to a variety of novel ordered network structures and is a convenient method for modifying and controlling their chemical and physical properties [294]. 

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TABLE 10.5. Structures and Thermal Properties of Liquid Crystalline Cyanate Ester Monomers. 

Koerner et al. reported that cyanate ester monomer Cl and C3 could be oriented and polymerized in an a-c electric field [39] and that the orientation of the molecules was controllable by changing the frequency of the field. The cyanate ester LC monomer could self-organize in such a dynamic environment. This orientation-on-demand technique will provide a new method to control and modify high performance materials. It is claimed that triazine systems based on 2,4,6-tris[4-aminophenyl)-alkoxybenzylidene]-l,3,5-triazine form a discotic liquid crystalline phase [50]. This report made the investigation of such networks of even more interest. 

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