Mechanical SCLCP

Probably the most interesting feature of SCLCPs is their ability to freeze an anisotropic alignment below the glass transition, coupled with the fluidity of the mesophase [32]. This alignment can be attained by electric, magnetic or mechanical fields. 

With the previous exception [28], only mesogenic methacrylates have been used in an attempt to prepare well-defined SCLCPs directly by an anionic addition mechanism. In this case, the most troublesome side reactions to avoid are intermolecular (Eq. 10), and intra-... 

SCLCPs have also been prepared by group transfer polymerization (GTP) of mesogenic methacrylates are room temperature [47, 48]. The livingness of the nucleophilic catalyzed GTP was originally attributed to a new mechanism (Eq. 12), in-... 

Although many controlled cationic polymerizations that have been developed [120], only mesogenic vinyl ethers have been used in an attempt to prepare well-defined SCLCPs by a cationic addition mechanism [121]. Nevertheless, these polymerizations (and copolymerizations) provide the most complete series of SCLCPs with the widest range of structural variables. As shown in Eq. (22), most of these monomers, includ-... 

The techniques used to obtain the untwisted SmC phase structure in low molar mass LCs and SCLCPs are limited to thin layers. In contrast to this, LC elastomers can be macroscopically uniformly oriented by mechanical deformations [230], and this orientation process is not limited to thin samples or suitable dielectric anisotropy of the material. Furthermore, for LC elastomers the oriented structure can be chemically locked in by crosslinking, resulting in the so-called liquid single crystal elastomers [231],... 

Materials Design and Switching Mechanism. The dynamic holographic grating recorded with azobenzene SCLCPs is erased once the writing beams are turned off. It is of interest to develop materials with which one can record a stable diffraction grating that, after formation, can be repeatedly... 

LCPs combine the mechanical properties of polymers with the order of LCs. The low molar mass mesogenic units, which form a LC phase, consist of a rigid core. If this core is extended, so-called main chain liquid crystalline polymers (MCLCPs) are obtained. A second method to obtain LCPs is to connect low molecular weight LC (LMWLC) units via flexible spacers. This approach allows the preparation of side chain liquid crystalline polymers (SCLCPs) (Box 1). 

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