Phase diagrams of monomeric and electron beam cured propoxylated glyceroltriacrylate/low molecular weight liquid crystal systems

Equilibrium phase diagrams of mixtures of propoxylated glyceroltriacrylate (GFTA) and low molecular weight liquid crystals (LMWLCs) are investigated. The experimental phase diagrams of monomeric and electron beam (EB) cured G PTA/LMWLC blends are established by polarized optical microscopy (POM). Thr ee LMWLC are used exhibiting different nematic-isotropic transition tempera tures. One is the single component LMWLC 4-cyano-4'-n-pentyl-biphenyl (5CB) , another one is the eutectic mixture known as E7, and the third one is the single component 4-cyano-4'-n-octyl-biphenyl (8CB) exhibiting both nematic and smectic A orders, The experimental data are successfully analyzed with in a unified theoretical treatment based on mean field approximations.