Synthesis and Properties of Thermotropic Liquid Crystalline Polyesters with Flexible Polymethylene Spacer

Abstract

Polymethylene bis(p-hydroxybenzoates) were prepared from methyl p-hydroxybenzoate and different diols by melted transesterification reaction. Three liquid crystalline polyesters were synthesized from terephthaloyl dichloride and polymethylene bis(p-hydroxybenzoates). Its structure, morphology and properties were characterized by Ubbelohde viscometer, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarized optical microscopy (POM) with a hot stage, and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD). Results indicated that the intrinsic viscosities were between 0.088 and 0.210 dL/g. Optical microscopy showed that the TLCP has a highly threaded liquid crystalline texture and a high birefringent schlieren texture character of nematic phase and has wider mesophase temperature ranges for all polyesters. DSC analysis were found that the melting point (Tm), isotropic temperature (Ti) of TLCPs decreased and the temperature range of the liquid crystalline phase became wider with increased number of methylene spacers in the polyester. The WAXD results showed that TLCPs owned two strong diffraction peaks at 2θ near 19° and 23°.