Influence of Dissolved Dye Molecules on Liquid Crystalline Side Chain Polymers

Abstract We report on the influence of dissolved dichroic dye molecules as well on the dye order parameter as on the clearing point of polymeric liquid crystalline host as a function of concentration. The investigations of several anthraquinone dyes in polyacrylic side chain polymers, using phenylebenzoate and biphenyle systems as mesogenic groups, show that the order parameter S (Dye) is constant over the concentration range under investigation for all systems. In all cases a decrease of the clearing point with increasing dye concentration could be observed. Also the influence of the dye structure, the spacer length and the mesogenic group are discussed.