MOLECULAR-WEIGHT ENHANCEMENT OF LIQUID-CRYSTALLINE POLYESTER BY SHEARING

Molecular weight enhancement by shearing of a liquid crystalline polym er was studied. The modification of Agarwal and Khakhar's reactor was used as a shear induced reactor for polymerization. It was found that shearing a reaction solution induces an increase in the number of grow ing liquid crystalline polyester molecules with the proper orientation to react with each other, and thus increases the molecular weight of the polymer. The enhancement was found to increase with increasing she ar rates.