Polymeric liquid crystals: cholesteric superstructure from blends of hydroxypropylcellulose esters

n‐Butyric, iso‐butyric, n‐valeric and iso‐valeric esters of hydroxypropylcellulose were synthesized. Their behaviors, in terms of cholesteric structure, glass (T g ) and anisotropic‐isotropic (T i ) transition temperatures are compared to results in the literature. A 6–8 month time period from sample preparation has no influence on the cholesteric phase characteristics. Six binary blends may be formed from the four esters. They show only a T g value at each composition, which suggests a good miscibility among the components. However, positive deviation of linearity of T g vs. composition varies from one pair to another. Analysis of the absorption curves in UV‐vis spectra show that three pairs form a single cholesteric helix containing both components while other three give a only nematic phase. Colors changing from red to violet are shown for blends of n‐butyric and iso‐butyric esters at different weight ratio. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.