ABNORMAL VISCOELASTIC BEHAVIOR OF SIDE-CHAIN LIQUID-CRYSTAL POLYMERS

We show that, contrary to what is commonly believed, the isotropic pha se of side-chain liquid-crystal polymers has viscoelastic properties w hich are totally different from those of ordinary flexible melt polyme rs. The results can be explained by the existence of a transient netwo rk created by the dynamic association of mesogenic groups belonging to different chains. The extremely high sensitivity of the compound to t he state of the surfaces with which it is in contact offers us an unex pected method of studying surface states.