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Intriguing liquid crystalline behavior of liquid crystalline polyrotaxane containing azobenzene mesogens

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Abstract

A series of liquid crystalline polyrotaxanes containing azobenzene mesogenic moieties (AzoPR) with different length of spacer were synthesized, and the relationship between the spacer length and the liquid crystalline behavior was investigated. The molecular characterization of the AzoPR was performed with 1H NMR, FT-IR, and gel permeation chromatography. The thermal stability was investigated via thermogravimetric analysis. Their phase structures and liquid crystalline properties were studied by differential scanning calorimetry, polarized optical microscopy and wide-angle X-ray diffraction. The experimental results suggested that AzoPR with spacer length of 2 and 4 failed to show the liquid crystalline behavior, and AzoPR with spacer length of 6 showed the columnar nematic phase. However, when the spacer length increases to 11, the columnar nematic phase formed, meanwhile, the liquid crystalline domains with high ordered structure were developed by azobenzene mesogens.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (20874082), the Scientific Research Fund of Hunan Provincial Education Department (06A068), the Key Project of Chinese Ministry of Education for Science and Technology (NO. 207075) and the New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-05-0707).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Polymeric Materials and Application Technology of Hunan Province, Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Materials of Colleges and Universities of Hunan Province, College of Chemistry, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, Hunan, 411105, People’s Republic of China

    Tianhui Hu, Helou Xie, Li Chen, Sheng Chen & Hailiang Zhang

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  1. Tianhui Hu
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  2. Helou Xie
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  3. Li Chen
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  4. Sheng Chen
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Correspondence to Hailiang Zhang.

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Hu, T., Xie, H., Chen, L. et al. Intriguing liquid crystalline behavior of liquid crystalline polyrotaxane containing azobenzene mesogens. Polym. Bull. 67, 937–950 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-010-0426-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-010-0426-3

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