Liquid crystalline side group block copolymers with a uniform polymer backbone

Abstract A system of liquid crystalline side group diblock copolymers with methacrylate as a uniform backbone polymer for the whole block copolymer has been synthesised and characterised. The system PETHMA/PChEMA displays similarities to the systems PS/PChEMA and PBMA/PChEMA with phase separation between the two blocks and smectic A-like layered structures in the liquid crystalline sub-phase as displayed in the homopolymer PChEMA. Also similar to systems mentioned before, a correlation between the orientation of the layers in the sub-phase and of the lamellae of a lamellar morphology has been observed.