Supramolecular self-assembly nature of a novel thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer containing no conventional mesogens.
Two-dimensional correlation infrared spectroscopy (2DIR) and a newly developed perturbation correlation moving window (PCMW) technique was employed to study the precise supramolecular self-assembly nature of poly[di(butyl)vinyl terephthalate] (PDBVT), a novel thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer which can self-assemble into a two-dimensional hexagonal columnar (2D Phi(H)) phase without conventional mesogens. PCMW had found the weak phase transition temperature to be about 85 degrees C, and further divided the "S or anti-S" shaped spectral variations into three evolving stages. 2DIR results indicated that carbonyl groups acted as the starting point of molecular motions upon heating, and had a significant influence on the formation of the 2D Phi(H) phase. Based on the additional motion sequence of symmetric and asymmetric C-H stretching vibrations, the whole self-assembly process of PDBVT on the mesoscale, whose backbones experienced "extension-distortion-slight extension" consecutive motions was elucidated.
The Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Ministry of Education, Department of Macromolecular Science and Advanced Materials Laboratory, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.
Shengtong
S
Sun
Hui
H
Tang
Peiyi
P
Wu
Xinhua
X
Wan