A THERMALLY STIMULATED DISCHARGE CURRENTS STUDY OF THE MOLECULAR MOTIONS IN 2 POLYSILOXANE SIDE-CHAIN LIQUID-CRYSTALLINE POLYMERS

The technique of thermally stimulated depolarization currents was used to study the dipolar relaxation mechanisms in two side-chain liquid-c rystalline polysiloxanes. The studied polymers have the same mesogenic side-group, but they differ in the number (or density) of side groups attached to the main chain. In both cases three different relaxations were observed: one in the vitreous state, one in the liquid crystalli ne phase, and the glass transition relaxation. The features of those t hermally stimulated discharges are discussed and some suggestions are made concerning the attribution of those discharges at the molecular l evel. (C) 1995 John Wiley and Sons, Inc.