SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF POLYACRYLATES CONTAINING CHARGE-TRANSFER GROUPS

Polyacrylates containing para-nitro azobenzene have been synthesized b y free radical polymerization. The influence of the length of the spac er of the homopolyacrylates (HPn, n=3,4,6), content of methyl acrylate in the copolyacrylates (CP6) with para-nitro azobenzene groups on the thermal properties, such as liquid crystallinity, Tg and Tm, was stud ied by DSC, WAXD and polarized optical microscopy. Among the polymers studied, only the homopolyacrylate (HP6)with six carbon atoms in the s pacer exhibited a nematic phase. The second-harmonic generation (SHG) signal of the poled HP6 film was detected qualitatively by Maker-fring er method.