A novel side-chain, liquid-crystalline ionomer (SLCI) with a poly(methyl hydrosiloxane) main chain and side chains containing sulfonic acid groups was used in blends of polyamide-1010 (PA1010) and polypropylene (PP) as a compatibilizer. The morphological structure, thermal behavior, and liquid-crystalline properties of the blends were investigated by Fourier transform infrared, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. The morphological structure of the interface of the blends containing SLCI was improved with respect to the blend without SLCI. The compatibilization effect of greater than 8wt % SLCI for the two phases, PA1010 and PP, was better than the effects of other SLCI contents in the blends.

The synthesis of new chiral smectic A (SA) side-chain liquid crystalline polysiloxanes (LCPs) and ionomers (LCIs) containing 4-allyloxy-benzoyl-4-(S-2-ethylhexanoyl) p-benzenediol bisate (ABB) as mesogenic units and 4-[[4-(2-propenyloxy)phenyl]azo]benzenesulfonic acid (AABS) as nonmesogenic units is presented. The chemical structures of the monomers and polymers are confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy or 1H-NMR. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), optical polarizing microscopy, and X-ray diffraction measurements reveal that all the polymers PI-PIV and ionomers PV-PVI exhibit SA texture. The results seem to demonstrate that the tendency toward the SA-phase region increases with increasing sulfonic acid concentration, and the thermal stability of the SA phase is determined by the flexibility of the polymer backbones and the interactions of sulfonic acid groups.

A novel thermotropic side-chain liquid crystalline ionomer (LCI) containing sulfonic acid groups on the side-chain was synthesized by graft copolymerization of mesogenic monomer 4-allyloxy-benzoxy-4*-methoxyphenyl (ABM) and nonemesogenic monomer 4-allyloxy-azobenzene sulfonic acid (AABS) upon polymethylhydrosiloxane (PMHS). The chemical structures of the polymers were confirmed by IR spectroscopy. DSC and TGA were used to measure the thermal properties of those polymers and the mesogenic properties were characterized by polarized optical micrography (POM), DSC, and WAXD. The clearing point temperature (Tc) of these liquid crystalline ionomers was enhanced 50-607C compared with the polymer without ionic groups. The LCIs exhibit a broad smectic mesogenic region of 80-907C; the thermal stability below 2007C of the polymers decreases with increasing sulfonic acid concentration. The inherent viscosity of 0.5% solutions decreased with increasing sulfonic acid concentration in the polymer chains.

Liquid crystalline ionomers containing sulfonate groups on the terminal unit of the chain were synthesized by an interfacial condensation reaction of 4,4'-dihydroxy-a,a'-dimethyl benzalazine, the monofunctional dye fast yellow (FY), and a 50/50 mixture of sebacoyl and dodecanedioyl dichlorides. The weight-average molecular weights were estimated from inherent viscosity measurements to be between 6000-11,000 and the sodium sulfonate concentrations ranged from 0-18.4meq/100g polymer. Elemental analyses, however, indicated much higher molecular weights, which suggested that there was a distribution of chains with one, two, or no FY endgroups. The polymers were semicrystalline and melted at ca. 140℃ to form nematic mesophases that were stable over a temperature range of ca. 80℃. They were thermally stable to about 350℃. The ionomeric nature of the polymers was confirmed by the presence of intermolecular associations in nonpolar solvents, as demonstrated by dilute solution viscosity measurements.

Liquid crystalline polymers containing sodium sulfonate groups pendant to the polymer backbone were synthesized by an interfacial condensation reaction of brilliant yellow, a sulfonate-containing monomer, with 4,4'-dihydroxy-a,a'-dimethyl benzalazine and a 50/50 mixture of sebacoyl and dodecanedioyl dichlorides. Polymers containing up to ca. 4mol% brilliant yellow were characterized by elemental analysis and ultraviolet spectroscopy. The polymers were thermally stable to about 300℃, and they exhibited a broad nematic mesophase region of 70-100℃. The solution viscosity behavior in chloroform suggested that intramolecular associations of the sulfonate groups occurred at low polymer concentrations and internolecular associations predominated at higher concentrations.