Temperature Dependence of the Relaxation Rates of α and δ Relaxation in Liquid-Crystalline Side-Group Polymethacrylates

Influence of Liquid Crystallinity and Mechanical Deformation on the Molecular Relaxations of an Auxetic Liquid Crystal Elastomer

Liquid Crystal Elastomers (LCEs) combine the anisotropic ordering of liquid crystals with the elastic properties of elastomers, providing unique physical properties, such as stimuli responsiveness and a recently discovered molecular auxetic response. Here, we determine how the molecular relaxation dynamics in an acrylate LCE are affected by its phase using broadband dielectric relaxation spectroscopy, calorimetry and rheology. Our LCE is an excellent model system since it exhibits a molecular auxetic response in its nematic state, and chemically identical nematic or isotropic samples can be prepared by cross-linking. We find that the glass transition temperatures (Tg) and dynamic fragilities are similar in both phases, and the T-dependence of the α relaxation shows a crossover at the same T* for both phases. However, for T>T*, the behavior becomes Arrhenius for the nematic LCE, but only more Arrhenius-like for the isotropic sample. We provide evidence that the latter behavior is related to the existence of pre-transitional nematic fluctuations in the isotropic LCE, which are locked in by polymerization. The role of applied strain on the relaxation dynamics and mechanical response of the LCE is investigated; this is particularly important since the molecular auxetic response is linked to a mechanical Fréedericksz transition that is not fully understood. We demonstrate that the complex Young's modulus and the α relaxation time remain relatively unchanged for small deformations, whereas for strains for which the auxetic response is achieved, significant increases are observed. We suggest that the observed molecular auxetic response is coupled to the strain-induced out-of-plane rotation of the mesogen units, in turn driven by the increasing constraints on polymer configurations, as reflected in increasing elastic moduli and α relaxation times; this is consistent with our recent results showing that the auxetic response coincides with the emergence of biaxial order.

Origin of glassy dynamics in a liquid crystal studied by broadband dielectric and specific heat spectroscopy

A combination of broadband dielectric (10{-2}Hz-10{9}Hz) and specific heat (10{-3}Hz-2 x 10{3}Hz) spectroscopy is employed to study the molecular dynamics of the glass-forming nematic liquid crystal E7 in a wide temperature range. In the region of the nematic phase the dielectric spectra show two relaxation processes which are expected theoretically: the delta relaxation which corresponds to rotational fluctuations of the molecules around its short axis and the tumbling mode at higher frequencies than the former one. For both processes the temperature dependence of the relaxation rates follows the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann formula which is characteristic for glassy dynamics. By applying a detailed data analysis, it is shown that close to the glass transition the tumbling mode has a much steeper temperature dependence than the delta process. The former has a Vogel temperature which is by 30K higher than that of the delta relaxation. Specific heat spectroscopy gives one relaxation process in its temperature and frequency dependence which has to be assigned to the alpha relaxation (dynamic glass transition). The unique and detailed comparison of the temperature dependence of the dielectric and the thermal relaxation rates delivers unambiguously that the dielectric tumbling mode has to be related to the dynamic glass transition.

Conductivity of oriented bis-azo polymer films

The conductivity properties of electro-optic, photoaddressable, dense bis-azo chromophore polymer films are investigated by using samples corona poled at various temperatures. A dielectric spectrometer is applied to measure the frequency dependence of the conductivity at different temperatures before and after heating the material to above the glass transition temperature. The results show that the orientation of the chromophores changes the charge-carrier mobility. Ionic conductivity dominates in a more disordered configuration of the material, while the competing process of hole hopping takes over as a transition to a liquid-crystalline phase occurs when the material is heated to much higher than the glass transition temperature. Such microcrystallization strongly enhances the conductivity.

Molecular dynamics in nanophase-separated comb-like poly(alpha-n-alkyl beta-L-aspartate)s

A series of poly(alpha-n-alkyl beta-L-aspartates) which are nanophase self-assembled comb-like polymers has been studied by dielectric spectroscopy in a broad frequency range (10(-2) < or = nu < or = 3 x 10(6) Hz), with n-alkyls side chains of various lengths, 10 < or = n < or =18. In every member of the series the same relaxations were identified after the decomposition of the experimental isothermal trace in up to three peaks with relaxation times distributions. The strength, width and average relaxation time for all the relaxation modes were determined for each material. Besides the local low temperature, Arrhenius modes, two relaxation modes, alpha and alpha(PE), present a cooperative character whose dynamics are not affected by the side chains melting. The alpha(PE) relaxation is a polyethylene-like glass transition of the amorphous side chains and its dynamics is strongly dependent on the n value due to the increasing restrictions imposed by the self-assembled confinement. The strength of the alpha(PE) relaxation mode increases as the lateral chains loose their 2D order. The restricted chopstick motion of the rigid rods is thought to be the origin of the alpha mode; this motion is hindered at temperatures where the cage size decreases as a result of the increasing disorder with temperature.

Investigation of thermochromism in a series of side-chain, liquid-crystalline, azobenzene-containing polymers

The thermochromic properties of a series of liquid crystalline polymethacrylates, containing azobenzene side-chains with variable spacer lengths, were investigated. Annealing the amorphous polymer thin films above the glass transition temperature results in a rearrangement of the azobenzene moieties, causing a hypsochromic shift in the electronic absorption spectra. A detailed investigation of the spectral shift was performed by in situ UV–vis spectroscopy and indicated the formation of H-type aggregates by the side-chain chromophores above the glass transition temperature. The rate at which the hypsochromic shift occurs is faster for polymers with shorter spacers since their high glass transition temperature results in a higher thermal energy during the thermochromic effect. Experimentally determined activation energies show that the aggregation occurs primarily due to side-chain relaxation (β-relaxation) and main-chain relaxation (α-relaxation). Further annealing above the isotropization temperature resulted in the onset of deaggregation and in most cases showed that the chromophores were freed from the ordered state.Key words: liquid-crystalline polymer, thermochromic properties, chain relaxation, aggregation, thin films, azobenzene mesogens.

Temperature and pressure dependence of the dynamics in a poly(methyl acrylate) side-chain liquid-crystalline polymer

The molecular dynamics of a side-chain polymer liquid crystal with a poly(methyl acrylate) backbone and a (p-alkoxy-phenyl)-benzoate mesogenic group have been studied in the unaligned state as a function of temperature and pressure using dielectric spectroscopy. Polarizing optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and pressure-volume-temperature (PVT) measurements revealed three transition temperatures separating four phases (glass, smectic, nematic, and isotropic). Different dynamic processes have been identified reflecting librational modes (gamma process), local relaxation of the mesogenic group (beta process), the segmental mode (alpha process) associated with the dynamic glass transition, and a slower process (delta process) reflecting the side-chain dynamics within the liquid crystal order. Pressure exerts a stronger influence on the alpha as compared to the delta process. Starting from the nematic phase, pressure was found to induce the nematic-to-smectic transformation. The associated dynamic changes were in excellent agreement with the PVT results implying that the dynamics are directly coupled to the thermodynamic state. Pressure was found to enhance the stability of the smectic order within the P-T phase diagram.

Dynamics of side-chain liquid-crystalline polymers: a dielectric spectroscopy investigation

We have studied the dynamics in two side-chain liquid-crystalline derivatives of poly(norbornene diethylester) with dielectric spectroscopy within the temperature range 190-433 K and the pressure range 1-3000 bars. Optical microscopy, x-ray scattering, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) revealed the formation of a nematic- and a smectic-A phase, respectively, in the polymers with the shorter and longer spacers. Multiple relaxation processes exist originating from the backbone and mesogenic dipoles. In the smectic-A phase two relaxation processes exist above the DSC glass temperature (alpha and alpha(')) which merge with decreasing temperature or with increasing pressure, thus suggesting a common molecular mechanism. The faster process is the segmental (alpha) relaxation associated with the dynamic glass transition, whereas the slower process reflects mainly the side-chain dynamics within the smectic layers. Pressure was found to increase the glass temperature in the nematic and smectic phases and the dT(g)/dP was 18.7 and 16.9 K/kbar, respectively. However, the effect of pressure in inducing the isotropic-to-smectic transition is more drastic as dT(SI)/dP=26.4 K/kbar.