Current Trends in Liquid Crystal Polymers and Their Applications: A Review

Abstract

Liquid crystal polymers (LCPs) are now highly focused by researchers due to their improved thermal properties, mechanical strength, excellent dielectric strength, resistance to solvents, better dimensional stability, and gas barrier properties. LCPs can be used in valuable widespread applications such as energy storage, high-performance polymer fibers, actuators, information technologies, surface modification, shape memory materials, data storage, fiber optics, the medical field, electrical or electronics devices, aircraft, chemical, domestic equipment, ultra-high-strength fibers, biosensing, advanced communication systems, satellite systems, biosensing, bio-oscillators, and bioprocess monitoring. LCPs can self-assemble into different liquid crystalline phases like nematic, cholesteric, smectic, and columnar phases. The self-assembling structures of LCPs can be affected by the chemical and structural structures of the backbone of the polymeric material, nearby alkyl tails, mesogenic units, flexible spacers, etc. Depending on the mesogenic units in their molecular architecture, LCPs are basically classified into various categories, such as crosslinked, main chain, and sidechain. Again, they are also classified as cholesteric, nematic, and smectic mesophases. This paper provides a fundamental understanding, an informative overview, and details of structural aspects, properties, classification, commercial aspects, and applications of LCPs.