| Research Abstract |
The purpose of the research was to develop a liquid crystalline optical shutter by controlling the micro phase-separated structure of a polystirene type liquid crystalline polymer blended with a base polymer, namely polystirene, based on our finding that polystirene with siloxane spacer show liquid crystallinity.
Kawakami established the synthetic method of monomers, and obtained polymers with controlled molecular weight and its distribution by anionic polymerization of monomers with various mesogenic groups connected through siloxane spacer. These polymers showed liquid crystallinity in wide temperature range. The relationship between the molecular weight and its distribution with the temperature range of liquid crystallinity and liquid crystalline phase was studied differential scanning calorimeter, thermal mechanical analysis, and optical polarization micrograph. The results were published in Polym.Bull.36,653 (1996). These polymers showed self-supporting property and are transparent against light with wide range of wave length. Estimation of these polymers as a reservoir for liquid crystals in the micro phase-separated sea and island domain in collaboration with Dr, Goto and Kashiwagi. The results on polydiene were published in Polym. J.28,513 (1996), and the results on the synthesis of siloxane compounds were published in Chem.Lett.107 (1995), 517 (1996).
Goto also studied the development of orienting membrane for liquid crystalline materials, and published the results in New Materials, 7,18 (1996) and J S R Technical Review, 103,1 (1996).
By this research, the purpose to develop and evaluate the liquid crystalline materials for optical shutters was attained. However, further study is needed to control the molecular weight and the structure of polymers to develop a realizable systems which can compete with actually existing system.
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