Relaxation flow-induced textures

Flow-induced Textures and their Relaxation Behavior... 

The evolution from the static state to different textures observed as a consequence of controlled shearing experiments and the subsequent relaxation behavior at the cessation of flow were first analyzed by Grazia-no and Mackley [96] for a number of thermotropic MCLCPs. This pioneering work introduced and defined the terms used today to classify shear-induced textures worm texture, ordered texture and banded texture. It should be noted that these textures have also been observed in lyotropic nematics. 

The self-organizing nature of liquid crystal polymers is reflected in their complex flow behavior. The relaxation phenomenon of lyotropic polymer solution after shear cessation leads to band texture morphology that can be further induced to isotropic materials. Future research should focus on solvents influence on band size implicitly related to the induced pattern in polymers with different structures. Another aspect that could be explored is the imidization of patterned polyimide precursors and those conditions in which the texture is still maintained. 

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