Thermotropic copolyesters properties

Xue Y, Kara M, Yoon HN (1998) Ionic naphthalene thermotropic copolyesters divalent salts and tensile mechanical properties. Macromolecules 31 7806-7813... 

The unique molecular packing of rod-like chains in liquid crystalline polymers (LCP) closely resembles the extended chain structure of highly oriented flexible chain polymers, suggesting that these materials are good candidates for barrier applications. Thermotropic LCP s, first developed in the early 1970 s, have been the object of much interest because of their excellent mechanical properties and ease of product fabrication. Preliminary observations have shown that a commercially available wholly aromatic thermotropic copolyester has gas permeability coefficients that are lower than those of polyacrylonitrile (4.). These results raise some fundamental questions as to the nature of the mechanism for transport of small molecules through a matrix of ordered rigid rod-like chains. 

Table 4.4 Processing parameters and mechanical properties for injection molded thermotropic copolyester of 60 mol% p-acetoxybenzoic acid, 20 mol% terephthalic acid and 20 mol% naphthalene. (Reprinted with permission from [21], copyright 1983 Society of Plastics Engineers, Inc.)...

For most of the results discussed below, the following is valid concerning COP, PC and mixtures if not otherwise stated. The thermotropic copolyester derived from p-hydroxybenzoate and poly(ethylene terephthalate) [10] containing 60 mol% PHB was used exclusively as the PLC component because this composition has the best mechanical properties [10,118] of these copolymers. It was obtained from Eastman Kodak, Kingsport, TN, and had an average molar mass estimated from solvent viscosity of about 19000 g mol . The sequence distribution was calculated from C-NMR as described by Lenz et al. [119] and was nearly random the statistical parameter which describes the randomness of the copolymer is = 1 for a block copolymer and P = 0 for a completely random copolymer. The copolymer used for the experiments had P = 0.15. 

Properties" of Thermotropic Copolyesters Based on Bis(4-carboxyphenyl) Terephthalate (HTH) and Bis(4-carboxyphenyl)... 

In the late 1980s, new fully aromatic polyester fibers were iatroduced for use ia composites and stmctural materials (18,19). In general, these materials are thermotropic Hquid crystal polymers that are melt-processible to give fibers with tensile properties and temperature resistance considerably higher than conventional polyester textile fibers. Vectran (Hoechst-Celanese and Kuraray) is a thermotropic Hquid crystal aromatic copolyester fiber composed of -hydroxyben2oic acid [99-96-7] and 6-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid. Other fully aromatic polyester fiber composites have been iatroduced under various tradenames (19). 

Navard and Zachariades (125) examined the optical properties of shear deformed trifluoroacetox3q)ropyl cellulose and observed band phenomena identical to that for thermotropic nematic copolyesters. Steinmeier and Zugenmaier (107) demonstrated that the phenylacetate... 

The first fibers from a thermotropic liquid crystalline melt whose properties were reported were spun from a copolyester of para-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHB) and PET by workers at Tennessee Eastman Co. The preparation of the copolymer proceeds in two stages. First, / ara-acetoxybenzoic acid is reacted with PET in an acidolysis step to give a copolyester prepolymer, which in the second step is condensed further to a higher degree of polymerization suitable for fiber formation. 

Recently Blumstein and coworkers reported on the thermotropic properties of a series of main chain copolyesters with different azoxybenzene mesogenic units and flexible spacers consisting of varying ratios of (-I-) 3-methyl adipic acid and 1,12-dodecanedioic acid. Melting temperature of the copolyesters showed minimum values for either the 50/50 compositions or the 25/75 combination of the two spacer components, depending on the nature of the mesogenic units. However, Tj tended to decrease linearly with the content of the 1,12-dodecanedioic acid unit, except in one case. They also observed that the cholesteric pitch of the copolyesters seemed to increase as the concentration of the achiral unit, dodecanedioic acid, increased. Similar observations were reported earlier by Strzelecki s group... 

Thermotropic Aromatic Copolyesters Having Ordered Comonomer Sequences Syntheses and Properties... 

Aromatic liquid crystalline (LC) copolyesters of commercial importance are made by processes which produce compositionally heterogeneous chemical sequences along the polymer chain. Such chemical heterogeneity is responsible for a number of interesting properties of thermotropic LC polymers. These properties include a small amount of 3Current address General Electric Plastics, Mount Vernon, IN 47620... 

To date, reports of investigations on the gas transport properties of main chain liquid crystalline polymers appear to have been limited to the work conducted in our laboratory. Chiou and Paul (4.) have briefly described the transport parameters of an extruded film of an LCP having a similar structure to the commercial product Vectra. This copolyester belongs to the family of napthylene thermotropic polymers (NTP s) commercialized by Hoechst-Celanese Corp. whose synthesis and properties have been described previously (iLS.). Transient permeation experiments were conducted with a series of gases. The effective... 

An equally important observation for the above copolyester LCPs is that the ordered arrangement of polymeric mesophases in the melt is retained upon cooling, which is manifested in greatly improved mechanical properties (see Figure 5.5b). The liquid crystalline behavior is therefore advantageous from the standpoint of both processing and properties. Thermotropic liquid crystal copolyesters of structures similar to (I) are now available commercially. 

S. Saikrasun, S. Bualek-Limcharoen, S. Kohjiya, and K. Urayama. Thermotropic liquid-crystalline copolyester/thermoplastic elastomer in situ composites. I. Rheology, morphology, and mechanical properties of extruded strands. J. Appl. Polym. ScL, 89 2676-2685, 2003. 

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