Synthesis and properties of liquid crystalline polymers with low Tm and broad mesophase temperature ranges

Novel thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers (TLCP) with improved processability and lower cost than Vectra^® were synthesized by esterification and melt polycondensation. Aromatic compounds, 6-hydroxyl-2-naphthoic acid, 2,6-naphthlenedicarboxylic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid or terephthalic acid, were used as polycyclic stiff rod-like mesogenic groups. Aliphatic diol, ethylene glycol or 1,4-butanediol was used as flexible spacers to form semi-flexible main chain TLCP. The LCP products were characterized by FT-IR and ¹H NMR to identify their chemical structures. The analytical results showed the polymers had inherent viscosities of 0.35-0.54 dL/g. The crank shaft structure of the naphthalene decreased the melting temperature (T_m) of LCP (181-272 °C) to facilitate extrusion or injection molding, and maintained relatively high heat deflection temperature for high performance engineering plastics applications. The 5% weight loss decomposition temperatures were above 400 °C. LCPs have good solvent resistance and low hygroscopicity. The SEM morphology showed strong orientation on the surface in the flow direction and many micro-fibers structure in a sectional drawing. The optical textures of polymers observed by POM revealed a strong birefringence in the melts and indicated that they form nematic mesophase. All polymers have broad mesophase temperature (ΔT_meso) ranges.