PHASE-TRANSITIONS AND THE KINETICS OF POLYMERIZATION OF LIQUID-CRYSTALLINE DIEPOXIDE

Methods of isothermal and differential scanning calorimetry were used to study the correlation between the phase state and the process of polymerization of a liquid-crystalline thermotropic monomer, diglycidyl ester of terephthaloyl-bis-(4-hydroxy benzoic acid). Activation energy of anionic polymerization of this monomer was measured for the crystalline, liquid-crystalline, and isotropic phases. The reactivity of the epoxy groups of the monomer in anionic polymerization was shown to be the same in liquid-crystalline and isotropic states. The dependence of the phase transition temperature on the conversion of the monomer in polymerization was obtained. Polymers based on liquid-crystalline diepoxide were studied using optical and thermomechanical analyses.