Typical polarizing microscope photomicrographs of the optical textures of the
liquid crystalline structures of PAM hybrids with various organoclay contents are
shown in Fig. 22. All the liquid crystalline compositions with C12-MMT contents
between 0 and 9 wt% have a threaded Schlieren texture typical of nematogens.
Conclusions
In this chapter, TLCP hybrids with different organoclay contents were prepared
using different intercalation methods and monomers containing different substituents to investigate their thermomechanical properties, morphology, and liquid crystallinity. We found that the addition of a small amount of organoclay was sufficient to
change the thermal properties of the TLCP matrix polymer. The TLCP hybrid used
in this study showed considerably higher thermal properties than neat TLCP. In the
OBDT and PAM hybrids, the thermal properties (T m , T i , and T D
i ) of the TLCP
hybrids increase with the addition of the organoclay up to a critical content and then
decrease with further organoclay loading. The XRD, SEM, and TEM results for the
Fig. 20 Polarizing optical
micrographs of (a) 2 and
(b) 6 wt% C25A in EHBT
hybrids taken at 200
C
(Â250)
21 Characterizations of Nanocomposites of Liquid Crystalline Polymers
603