REVERSING-PULSE ELECTRIC BIREFRINGENCE OF POLY(GAMMA-BENZYL L-GLUTAMATE) .4. ELECTRIC, OPTICAL, AND HYDRODYNAMIC PROPERTIES IN HELIX-FORMING SOLVENTS AS EVALUATED FROM FIELD-ON AND FIELD-OFF PROCESSES

Reversing-pulse electric birefringence (RPEB) of poly( gamma -benzyl L-glutamate), left bracket Glu(OBzl) right bracket //n, with a weight-average molecular weight of 1. 71 multiplied by 10**5 was measured at 20 degree C and at 535 nm in four helix-forming solvents: 2-chloroethanol, cyclohexanone, pyridine, in which left bracket Glu(OBzl) right bracket //n is dissolved molecularly, and chloroform in which it is aggregated. A standard analytical procedure is given for the RPEB signal which represents the field-on and field-off processes. The steady-state birefringence of left bracket Glu(OBzl) right bracket //n was measured over a wide field strength range up to ca. 20 kV cm** minus **1. The Kerr law was obeyed at low fields, while a saturating trend was observed at higher fields.