The Phase Transition Behavior of Side Chain Liquid Crystalline Polymers Containing Sulfone Group

The phase transition behavior in side chain liquid crystalline polymers (SCLCPs) based on a hydrophilic poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) main chain and a hydrophobic alkyl side chain containing sulfone groups was investigated by using DSC, POM, synchrotron X- ray scattering, FT-IR and rheological measurements. In the case of poly[oxy(octylsulfonylhexylthiomethyl) ethylene] (8S6EO) containing sulfone groups located at the intermediate position in the side chain, the presence of sulfone groups made it possible to obtain a highly ordered layer structure mainly due to the strong dipole-dipole interactions among sulfone groups. It is also noted that the scattering patterns completely disappeared in the isotropic state. On the other hand, a series of three SCLCPs containing sulfone groups near the hydrophilic backbone, poly[oxy(n-decylsulfonylmethyl) ethylene] (nSEO, n = 14, 16, 18), showed the evident mesophase stability due to its amphiphilic character. Interestingly, it was clearly observed for SEO-series that a broad scattering, related to the correlation hole peak due to the presence of dynamic density inhomogeneity in the disordered state, persisted even above the Ti. We also investigated the effect of length of alkyl side chains on the phase transition behavior of SEO-series, showing the layered structures with a periodic undulation of backbone chains for both 16SEO and 18SEO.