Self‐assembly and antistatic property of ionic liquid crystalline polymers

Abstract

Series of ionic liquid crystalline polymers (ILCPs) containing bipyridinium groups were synthesized by ionic self-assembly technology, and the chemical structure, selfassembly behavior, liquid crystalline property, and antistatic property were investigated by various techniques. All the polymers exhibit good thermotropic liquid crystal on heating cycle. The precursor bromo-polyesters displayed nematic phase, but the ILCPs (IPPy-Br, IPP-BF 4 and IPP-PF 6 series) containing bipyridine groups and different counter-anions showed smectic C phase. The effects of different counter-ions on liquid crystalline behavior were discussed in this study. The antistatic properties of these ILCPs were investigated by a four-probe measuring instrument. The surface resistivity was slight sensitivity to the surface water absorption due to the special structure of conductive channels of these ILCPs. It was found that all these ILCPs exhibited superior antistatic performance and ionic conductivity properties. In these ILCPs containing Br À , BF 4 À and PF 6 À counter-ions, the IPPy-BF 4 series of polymers with BF 4 À showed the maximum conductivity due to the influence of the BF 4 À anion in the ordered structure.

Fast thermally-responsive azatriphenylene ionic discotic liquid crystalline polymers with shape-memory properties

“…The resulting ILC copolymers exhibited a smectic A phase, whereas the nonionic portion exclusively formed a nematic phase with a schlieren texture. Meng et al 21 synthesized a series of ILCPs containing bipyridinium groups via ionic self-assembly. The bromo-polyester precursors displayed a nematic phase, whereas the ILCPs containing bipyridine groups and BF 4 − or PF 6 − as counter-anions exhibited a smectic C phase.…”