Preparation and thermal properties of liquid crystalline ionomers having mesogenic ester side chains containing three phenyl groups

A series of liquid crystalline (LC) copolymers having both the repeat units of mesogenic ester side chains containing three phenyl groups and the repeat units possessing an acid group were prepared. The acid groups of the LC copolymers were neutralized with sodium acetate to give a varying degree of neutralization. It was found that the LC properties of the ionomers depended strongly on both the relative amount of the units having the mesogenic side chains and the amount of ionic units. It was also observed that the formation of the nematic phase of the LC ionomers was suppressed by the increase in ion contents. After the analysis of the thermal data of the phase transitions, it was suggested that the transition temperatures of the LC phases of the copolymers and their ionomer forms, and the temperature ranges for the LC phases were affected by the relative amounts of both mesogenic and acidic units and by the degree of neutralization, simultaneously.