Degree of polymerization and dynamics in liquid crystalline poly-(1-subst.-ethylenes)

Dielectric relaxation measurements of two classes of liquid crystalline polymers with different degrees of polymerization were carried out. The only difference between the samples is that in the first case the liquid crystalline (LC) part is coupled to the polyethylene chain by a -COO group, whereas in the second case, an ether group (O) connect the same parts. Increasing the degree of polymerization increases the clearing temperatures and decreases the dielectric relaxation frequencies f R of reorientation of the LC part around both its short and long molecular axes. At higher degrees of polymerization, a saturation effect of f R is observed which is related to the chemical structure of the linking group.