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Abstract
The electro-rheological (ER) effect of blends composed of two liquid crystalline materials (polymer and oligomer) with varying volumes of each component is discussed in this article. The results indicated that the ER effect of each blend was observed at a different temperature range. The blends showed better ER response to an applied electric field compared with each neat sample. Also investigated is the behaviour of the liquid crystalline oligomer in the isotropic polymer under an applied electric field, by polarising optical microscope observation. This study demonstrates the importance of a host matrix in blend systems on ER effect.
Acknowledgements
The authors are indebted to Associate Professor T. Hanasaki of Ritsumeikan University (Japan) for his helpful advice and discussion. A High-Tech Research Center Project for Private Universities matching fund subsidy from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology (2006–2010), and Research for Promoting Technological Seeds (2009) are gratefully acknowledged for partial support of this work.