Influence of Liquid Crystallinity and Mechanical Deformation on the Molecular Relaxations of an Auxetic Liquid Crystal Elastomer.

ABSTRACT: Liquid Crystal Elastomers (LCEs) combine the anisotropic ordering of liquid crystals with the elastic properties of elastomers, providing unique physical properties, such as stimuli responsiveness and a recently discovered molecular auxetic response. Here, we determine how the molecular relaxation dynamics in an acrylate LCE are affected by its phase using broadband dielectric relaxation spectroscopy, calorimetry and rheology. Our LCE is an excellent model system since it exhibits a molecular auxetic response in its nematic state, and chemically identical nematic or isotropic samples can be prepared by cross-linking. We find that the glass transition temperatures (Tg) and dynamic fragilities are similar in both phases, and the T-dependence of the α relaxation shows a crossover at the same

SUBMITTER: Raistrick T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8659252 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature