Polymer Liquid Crystals

Polymer Liquid Crystals covers the significant developments in the field of highlight oriented polymers. This 12-chapter book emerged from lectures presented during the seminar "e;Polymer Liquid Crystals: Science and Technology"e;, held at Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy on May 19-23, 1981. The opening chapters highlight the molecular basis of liquid crystallinity. The subsequent chapters deal with the synthesis, structure, properties, and macroscopic phenomena of polymer liquid crystals. These topics are followed by descriptions of the orientation of liquid crystals, specifically the instabilities in low molecular weight nematic and cholesteric liquid crystals. The final chapters consider the applications of these crystals to display devices and the advances in high-strength fibers and molecular composites. This book will be of great value to polymer liquid crystal chemists and researchers.