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Influence of Comesogens on the Thermal and Actuation Properties of 2‐ tert‐ Butyl‐1,4‐bis[4‐(4‐pentenyloxy)benzoyl]hydroquinone Based Nematic Main‐Chain Liquid Crystalline Elastomers
Author(s) -
Melchert Christian,
Behl Marc,
Nöchel Ulrich,
Lendlein Andreas
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
macromolecular materials and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.913
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1439-2054
pISSN - 1438-7492
DOI - 10.1002/mame.201200238
Subject(s) - materials science , hydroquinone , anthracene , copolymer , elastomer , phase (matter) , liquid crystal , polymer chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , polymer , optoelectronics , chemistry
Although the shape‐changing capabilities of LCEs hold great potential for applications ranging from micropumps to artificial muscles, customization of the LCE functionality to the applications' requirements is still a challenge. It is studied whether the orientation of NMC‐LCPs and NMC‐LCEs based on 2‐ tert‐ butyl‐1,4‐bis[4‐(4‐pentenyloxy)benzoyl]hydroquinone can be enhanced by copolymerization with 2‐methyl‐1,4‐bis[4‐(4‐pentenyloxy)benzoyl]hydroquinone or 2,6‐bis[4‐(4‐pentenyl‐oxy)‐benzoyl]anthracene. An increasing content of the comonomers stabilizes the nematic phase, which enables a tailoring of T NI for the NMC‐LCP between 45 and 68 °C, while for the NMC‐LCE T NI ranges between 69 and 76 °C. In addition, NMC‐LCE show an increased actuation performance.