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Updated: May 19, 2026
Preparation of Monodomain Liquid Crystal Elastomers and Liquid Crystal Elastomer Nanocomposites
Published on: February 6, 2016
Preparation, characterization and cytocompatibility of polyurethane/cellulose based liquid crystal composite
Wanqing Han1, Mei Tu, Rong Zeng
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Science and Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, PR China.
Abstract:
Two types of polyurethane/liquid crystal (PU/LC) composite membranes with different LC contents, namely polyurethane/octyl hydroxypropyl cellulose ester (PU/OPC) and polyurethane/propyl hydroxypropyl cellulose ester (PU/PPC), were prepared and studied. The effects of surface properties on cell compatibility of the membranes were elucidated. PPC tended to assemble to independent phases in the composite membranes, while OPC formed uniformly distributed LC domains. As the introduction of LC, phase separation occurred, and the crystallization of PU was disrupted. The surface of PU/LC composite membranes showed fingerprint texture and two-phase morphology. Hydrophilicity of the two types of composite membranes exhibited a reversal tendency with the increase of LC contents. Cells seeded on the composite membranes presented favorable growth when the content of LC was over 30%, especially on PU/OPC complex. The surface morphology, phase separation between LC and PU as well as the type of LC showed significant effects on the cell behaviors.
