Monolayers of polymerizable liquid crystal and in situ interfacial polymerization at the air-water interface

Abstract

The pi-A isotherm and transfer characteristics of polymerizable liquid crystals spread at the air-water interface were investigated. The limiting areas of n-[(4-cyano-4'-biphenyl)oxy] alkyl vinyl ether (CN-n-M) homologues series of n = 8, 10, and 11 were about 10, 13, and 17 Angstrom(2)/molecule respectively, and smaller than the area of hydrophilic cyanobiphenyl group. All the CN-n-M formed apparently stable monolayers and the transferred type of pure CN-11-M monolayer on the hydrophilic surface was Z-type for the first several layers. The monolayer of a mixture with poly(amic acid) salts at 25 mN/m was polymerized by UV-irradiation.