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Synthesis of Programmable Main-chain Liquid-crystalline Elastomers Using a Two-stage Thiol-acrylate Reaction

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Published on: January 19, 2016

Road to disorder in smectic elastomers.

Evgeny P Obraztsov¹, Adrian S Muresan, Boris I Ostrovskii

¹FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics, Kruislaan 407, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics

|March 21, 2008

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study reveals how cross-linking affects order in smectic elastomers using X-ray analysis. Increased cross-linking concentration and stiffness disrupt the material's one-dimensional order, transitioning it towards disorder.

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Area of Science:

Materials Science
Polymer Physics
Condensed Matter Physics

Background:

Smectic elastomers exhibit one-dimensional translational order.
Random cross-linking can disrupt this order, leading to changes in material properties.
Understanding the relationship between cross-linking and order is crucial for designing novel materials.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the effects of random cross-linking on the order in side-chain smectic elastomers.
To quantify the influence of cross-linker concentration and stiffness on the disruption of one-dimensional translational order.
To analyze the transition from ordered to disordered states using X-ray scattering.

Main Methods:

High-resolution X-ray scattering experiments were performed.
Analysis of quasi-Bragg peak line shapes was used to probe structural order.
The Caillé correlation function convoluted with a stretched Gaussian was employed to model smectic line shapes.

Main Results:

A transition from algebraic decaying order to disorder was observed with increasing cross-linking.
The exponent of the stretched Gaussian factor changed from 1 to <0.5, indicating a transition from finite-size domains to short-range correlations.
Flexible cross-linkers induced disorder at higher concentrations (0.15-0.20) than stiff cross-linkers (<0.10).
X-ray peak broadening indicated strain and local deformations due to dislocations.

Conclusions:

The degree of disorder in smectic elastomers is controllable via cross-linker concentration and stiffness.
X-ray line shape analysis provides a sensitive method to characterize the order-disorder transition.
The findings offer insights into the structure-property relationships of cross-linked polymer systems.