ORIENTATION OF POLYMER-CHAINS IN ORIENTED (E-CE)C AA LIQUID-CRYSTALLINE SOLUTIONS/

The banded texture of ethyl cyanoethyl cellulose [(E-CE)C]/acrylic aci d (AA) which was formed after being sheared was studied by electron an d polarizing microscopy. In the banded texture, the polymer chains ori ent along the shearing direction in a zigzag way within the bands, whi le in the transient layers between the bands, the orientation directio n of polymer chains changes continuously from the orientation directio n of polymer chains in one band to that in the neighboring band. The d egree of ordering in the bands is higher than that in the transient la yers. The width of the bands and the transient layers between the band s decreases with increasing concentration. (E-CE)C/PAA composite films with the banded texture were obtained by photopolymerizing the solven t in the oriented (E-CE)C/AA liquid crystalline solutions. The mechani cal destruction of the structure for (E-CE)C/PAA oriented composite fi lms was studied and it was found that transient layers are weak region s. The transient layers between the bands were also first destroyed wh en the oriented composite films were etched by ion bombardment. The or iented composite films could be easily torn along the transient areas between the bands.