Transient rheological behavior of lyotropic (acetyl)(ethyl)cellulose/m-cresol solutions

The chiroptical properties and transient rheological behavior of (acetyl)(ethyl)cellulose (AEC) m-cresol liquid crystalline solutions have been investigated. Chiroptical properties were manipulated through (i) increasing degree of acetylation of ethyl cellulose (EC), and (ii) blending AEC with EC. At the same average degree of acetylation (DA), the chiroptical properties of pure AEC were different from those of the EC/AEC mixtures. However, at the same DA, the AEC and mixed AEC/EC solutions showed similar steady state flow and oscillatory behaviors, but the transient behaviors were different. At high flow rates the mixed AEC/EC solutions exhibited double recoil after cessation of steady-state flow, whereas the AEC solutions showed double recoil only in the high DA AEC solutions. All solutions, pure and mixed, had the same stress relaxation behavior. Both pitch and handedness affected the transient behavior. After cessation of high shear rate flow, the rate of modulus evolution decreased with increasing pitch, and was faster in right-handed mesophases than in left-handed ones at a similar pitch.