Thermotropic liquid-crystalline polymers XXIII. Peculiarities of uniaxial orientation of comb-like liquid-crystalline polymers under mechanical stress

Abstract

The structure of oriented samples of liquid-crystalline side-chain polymers has been studied by X-ray diffraction. The arrangement of the different fragments of the macromolecules is shown to be dependent on the mesophase type of the initial melt. The orientation of the nematic melt leads to parallel alignment of mesogenic groups along the fibre axis. In the smectic melt, the smectic layers are arranged along the fibre axis with the mesogenic groups normal (S_A and S_B) or tilted (S_C and S_F) to it.