Liquid Crystalline Polymer Gels: Preparation and Swelling Behavior of Cellulose-based Networks

Cellulose organo gels with liquid crystalline (LC) order have been prepared by crosslinking cellulose chains with a difunctional unit, adipoylchloride, or a monofunctional molecule containing a reactive double bond, 4-pentenoil chloride. Both gels display a reversible change from LC order to isotropic phase by changing the amount of solvent. The relation between the critical concentration at which the LC phase is stable, and the degree of crosslinking depends on the crosslinking agent. Both gels swell in dimethylacetamide and acetone: however the degree of swelling decreases with the degree of crosslinking in dimethylacetamide, while an increase is observed in acetone. This particular behavior can be explained by taking into account the different composition of the networks. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.