Temperature-induced phase separation of side-chain LCP/LMWLC blends

A blend of side-chain liquid crystal polymer (SCLCP) and low molecular weight liquid crystal (LMWLC) was used to investigate a phase separation behavior induced by temperature. Phase separation at room temperature was observed only for the compositions higher than 60 wt% LMWLC because of good miscibility between two components. An interesting phenomenon was observed when the film transmittance for a phase-separated sample as a function of temperature was measured under cross-polarizer. That is, transmittance below T-NI of LMWLC was observed lower than that below T-SI of SCLCP, which was not expected initially. The fact was considered as a micro-phase separation induced by an interfacial effect between SCLCP and LMWLC phase.