U.S.-France Cooperative Research: Main-Chain Polymer Liquid Crystals and Model Compounds with Conventional Thermoplastics and Ionomers

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This award will support collaborative research between Professor Rita B. Blumstein, University of Lowell, Massachusetts, and Dr. Ferdinand Volino, Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Grenoble, France, in the area of polymer liquid crystals (PLC's) and compounds from conventional thermoplastics, which can model PLC's. Novel liquid-crystal polymers and compounds which can be used as models for them will be synthesized, and their structure will be studied at the microscopic level, using nuclear magnetic resonance and neutron and X-ray scattering. Their thermodynamic and mechanical properties will be studied at the macroscopic level. This research will continue a seven-year collaborative effort, which has yielded important results in other areas of polymer studies. The U.S. and French researchers have complementary skills, and the Grenoble laboratory possesses equipment not available otherwise to the U.S. principal investigator. NMR and neutron scattering, and investigation of the microscopic properties of the model systems, will be done at Grenoble; macroscopic properties will be investigated at Lowell. One graduate student from the U.S. will also be trained in the microscopic techniques at Grenoble. The project should increase our understanding of polymeric liquid crystal systems, and could result in the development of new liquid crystal materials with improved impact resistance and transparency.