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Introduction to Liquid Crystalline Polymers

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Polymers and Polymeric Composites: A Reference Series

Part of the book series: Polymers and Polymeric Composites: A Reference Series ((POPOC))

Abstract

Liquid crystalline polymers (LCPs) remain the fascinating class of polymeric material due to the useful combination of physical properties. As the name suggests, LCPs, the class of the macromolecules, possess both the properties of solid and liquid that generate astonishing property in this new and interesting class of materials. These polymers can be of many types depending on the position and type of the mesogenic units in the molecular architecture. LCPs are mainly classified as main-chain, side-chain, crosslinked, etc. made of nematic, smectic, cholesteric, and other mesophases. The orientational properties of LCPs are an important aspect to determine the utility of this particular class of material. The molecules in LCP arrange and align themselves in the longitudinal direction more or less in the transverse direction. This fundamental characteristic of LCPs decides many important properties such as mechanical strength, thermal properties, etc. As a result, these LCPs find applications in several areas such as electrical or electronics, information technologies, medical, aircraft, fiber optics, chemical and domestic equipment, etc., due to the excellent thermal conductivity, good dielectric strength, resistance to solvents, and high dimensional stability. This chapter provides a concise yet informative overview of LCPs starting from its origin, types, synthesis methodologies, essential properties, and application areas. This article also provides a comprehensive overview of the underlined physics behind this structural arrangement leading to molecular anisotropy in the material. The commercial aspects such as processing of this material, how this material differs from the conventional polymer in view of engineering aspects, which make them distinct have been highlighted. Basically this chapter provides a fundamental understanding of this wonderful material in a nutshell.

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Acknowledgments

Authors acknowledge the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. Authors are thankful to Ms. Tanvi Pal for drafting few figures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Nanoengineering Materials Laboratory, Materials Science Programme, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, India

    Soma Banerjee & Kamal K. Kar

  2. Advanced Nanoengineering Materials Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, India

    Kamal K. Kar

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  1. Soma Banerjee
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  2. Kamal K. Kar
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Correspondence to Kamal K. Kar .

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Banerjee, S., Kar, K.K. (2020). Introduction to Liquid Crystalline Polymers. In: Polymers and Polymeric Composites: A Reference Series. Polymers and Polymeric Composites: A Reference Series. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37179-0_49-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37179-0_49-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-37179-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-37179-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Chemistry and Mat. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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