Controlled Shape Memory Behavior of a Smectic Main-Chain Liquid
Crystalline Elastomer
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Abstract
A smectic
main-chain liquid crystalline elastomer (LCE), with controlled
shape memory behavior, is synthesized by polymerizing a biphenyl-based
epoxy monomer with an aliphatic carboxylic acid curing agent. Microstructures
of the LCEs, including their liquid crystallinity and cross-linking
density, are modified by adjusting the stoichiometric ratio of the
reactants to tailor the thermomechanical properties and shape memory
behavior of the material. Thermal and liquid crystalline properties
of the LCEs, characterized using differential scanning calorimetry
and dynamic mechanical analysis, and structural analysis, performed
using small-angle and wide-angle X-ray scattering, show that liquid
crystallinity, cross-linking density, and network rigidity are strongly
affected by the stoichiometry of the curing reaction. With appropriate
structural modifications it is possible to tune the thermal, dynamic
mechanical, and thermomechanical properties as well as the shape memory
and thermal degradation behavior of LCEs