Macromolecules, Vol.31, No.4, 1398-1405, 1998
Cholesteric pitch of lyotropic polymer liquid crystals
The cholesteric pitch P of semiflexible helical polymer solutions was formulated using a threaded equivalent freely jointed chain model. The theory was favorably compared with experimental results of P for cholesteric solutions of the three helical polymers schizophyllan (a triple-helical polysaccharide), poly(gamma-benzyl L-glutamate), and poly((R)-2,6-dimethylheptyl isocyanate), and two chiral interaction parameters characterizing the chiral hard-core repulsion and the soft dispersion force were determined from this comparison. However, the same theory failed to describe the polymer concentration dependence of P for cholesteric solutions of (acetoxypropyl)cellulose in a very concentrated region.
Keywords:MOLECULAR-WEIGHT DEPENDENCE;AQUEOUS-SOLUTIONS;DILUTE-SOLUTION;POLYSACCHARIDE;(ACETOXYPROPYL)CELLULOSE;POLYISOCYANATES;POLYPEPTIDES;ORDER;HELIX