J Mater Sci Technol ›› 2005, Vol. 21 ›› Issue (Supl.1): 104-106.

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Liquid Crystallinity and Thermal Behaviors of Thermotropic Copolyester/Fully Exfoliated Layered Silicate Nanocomposites

Xingping ZHOU, Zhaoying GUO, Xiaolin XIE, Yiuwing MAI   

  1. Department of Chemistry, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China...
  • Received:2005-01-24 Revised:1900-01-01 Online:2005-06-28 Published:2009-10-10
  • Contact: Xiaolin XIE

Abstract: The thermotropic copolyester/fully exfoliated layered silicate nanocomposites (LCP/MMT) were synthesized by in-situ acetylation reaction. The liquid crystallinity and thermal behaviors of the LCP/MMT nanocomposites were investigated. The results showed that LCP/MMT nanocomposites exhibit nematic liquid crystalline behavior, and the incorporation of the exfoliated MMT layers throughout the LCP matrix results in very fine but imperfect schlieren texture, and the disinclination becomes blurred. The incorporation of the exfoliated MMT layers leads to different effects on the glass transition, melting and crystallization of the PBT-rich and PHB-rich domains in LCP macromolecules due to their different chain flexibility and structure.

Key words: Liquid crystalline polymer, Nanocomposites, Thermal behavior