Interfacial slip at the thermotropic liquid-crystalline polymer/poly (ethylene naphthalate) interface

The unique rheological properties of a thermotropic liquid-crystalline polymer (TLCP) were first studied. The thermal and shear history of the TLCP was found to play a critical role in its rheological properties. Crystallites were observed in the TLCP melt even above the melting temperature detected by differential scanning calorimetry. Because interfacial slip had long been suggested as an important reason for viscosity reduction in TLCP/thermoplastic blends, for the first time, interfacial slip at the TLCP/poly(ethylene naphthalate) (PEN) interface was investigated with an energy model. The model quantified the degree of interfacial slip at the TLCP/PEN interface by an energy factor. The calculated energy factors revealed a high degree of interfacial slip at the TLCP/PEN interface. It was proposed that the high rigidity of rodlike TLCP chains and their alignment parallel to the interface prevented mutual entanglements at the TLCP/PEN interface. The lack of mutual entanglements promoted the interfacial slip. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.