Geraniol Based Side Chain Liquid Crystalline Polymer: Synthesis and Characterization

Side chain liquid crystalline (SCLC) polysiloxane polymer with a geraniol mesogenic group and polymethylene spacers were prepared, and their properties were compared with those of an equivalent SCLC polymer, SCLCP's, with phenyl benzoate mesogenic group. The phase behavior was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and optical polarizing microscopy (OPM). The DSC curve showed a clear melting temperature and isotropization at 72 and 148°C, respectively, with a glass transition at 25°C. The observation of a fan‐shaped texture confirms the presence Smectic A phase under an optical polarized microscope.

Keywords:

• LCP
• mesophases
• polysiloxanes

5 Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Director, Dr. R. P. Singh, Harcourt Butler Technological Institute, Kanpur for providing the necessary facilities. One the author thanks the Uttar Pradesh Council Science Technology, Lucknow for approving the project “Synthesis and Characterization of Liquid Crystalline Polymers” (CST/SERPD/D‐13). We would like to thank Prof. V.K. Agarwal, Professor, Physics Dept., Allahabad University for providing OPM facilities. We would also like to thank Professor M. Mauzac, Universite Paul Sabatier, France for academic discussions.