1B16 Relationship between the Morphology of Helical Polyacetylene and Alignment of Chiral Nematic Liquid Crystal

Abstract

Helical polyacetylene (PA) synthesized in the reaction field of chiral nematic liquid crystal (N^*-LC) can be expected to give novel optical and electromagnetic properties. To clarify the formation mechanism, we observed the morphology of helical PA by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), differential interference microscopy (DIM) and polarized optical microscopy (POM). Relationship between the morphology of helical PA and alignment of N^*-LC was investigated. It was found that the morphology of helical PA well resembles the patterns of N^*-LC under optical microscopes. A fibril bundle of helical PA corresponds to a finger print of N^*-LC. The interdistance between fibril bundles equals the half pitch of N^*-LC.