This book has the highest impact factor of all publications ranked by ISI within polymer science. It contains short and concise reports on physics and chemistry of polymers, each written by the world renowned experts. It remains valid and useful after 5 or 10 years. The electronic version is available free of charge for standing order customers at: springer.com/series/12/.
The International Workshop on Liquid Crystalline Polymers (LCPs) held in June 1993 in Italy attracted many of the leading researchers in this area of polymer science. The meeting provided a forum for the exchange of research and ideas on current developments and future research and applications of liquid crystalline polymers. This volume consists of a selection of the best papers presented at the meeting covering synthesis and characterization, liquid crystalline thermosets, rheology, blends and composites containing LCPs and transport properties.
Liquid crystal displays were discovered in the 1960s, and today we continue to enjoy the benefits of that fundamental discovery and its translation into a wide variety of products. Like liquid crystals, polymers are unusual materials, and have similarly enjoyed a great deal of research attention because of their vast applications and uses and complex fundamental properties. The combination of liquid crystal and polymer properties produces a broad array of new effectsspanning from densely crosslinked, rigid polymer networks to weakly crosslinked elastomersthat are not simply manifestations of either native liquid crystals or polymers alone.
This volume explores the creation, study, and processing of new liquid-crystalline polymers. It covers not only the chemistry of liquid-crystalline polymers, but also the physics and engineering aspects of these materials. A wide range of topics is covered, including syntheses of main-chain and side-chain LCPs, structural characterization of LP, rheology and processing, and applications such a electro-optics and ‘self-reinforcing’ blends. This book presents a broad view of the direction of LCP research in both industry and academe.
