Liquid crystals glass transition temperature

The incorporated SP exhibited photochromism in both of the immobilized bilayer complexes with montmorillonite and PSS. Kinetic measurements of the thermal isomerization (decoloration) were carried out for the annealed film. The decoloration reaction rate is dependent on the mobility of the surroundings and, in polymer matrices, is influenced by the glass transition. It was found that the reaction rates abruptly increased near the gel-to-liquid-crystal phase-transition temperature (54°C) of the immobilized bilayer due to increased matrix mobility in this system. The film prepared with montmorillonite gives more homogeneous reaction environments for the chromophore than those with the linear polymer (PSS). This leads to drastic changes in the reaction rate at the crystal-to-liquid-crystal phase transition of the bilayer, showing the effect of the phase transition of immobilized bilayers to be more pronounced than that of the glass transition of amorphous polymer matrices. 

Liquid crystalline solutions as such have not yet found any commercial uses, but highly orientated liquid crystal polymer films are used to store information. The liquid crystal melt is held between two conductive glass plates and the side chains are oriented by an electric field to produce a transparent film. The electric field is turned off and the information inscribed on to the film using a laser. The laser has the effect of heating selected areas of the film above the nematic-isotropic transition temperature. These areas thus become isotropic and scatter light when the film is viewed. Such images remain stable below the glass transition temperature of the polymer. 

The so-called glass transition temperature, Tg, must be considered below this temperature the liquid configuration is frozen in a structure corresponding to equilibrium at Tg. Around Tg a rather abrupt change is observed of several properties as a function of temperature (viscosity, diffusion, molar volume). Above 7 , for instance, viscosity shows a strong temperature dependence below Tg only a rather weak temperature dependence is observed, approximately similar to that of crystal. Notice that 7 is not a thermodynamically defined temperature its value is determined by kinetic considerations it also depends on the quenching rate. 

Figure 4.29 Changes in volume or entropy which can occur on cooling a liquid. Crystallization may occur at Tj- or, if the liquid is supercooled below jy, a glass is formed. The temperature corresponding to the break in slopes of V(oi S) versus T is termed the glass transition temperature, T. The value of varies with the cooling rate, R(Ri > f 2)-...

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