Abstract
Liquid crystalline polymers (LCPs) having both hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts are suitable materials for fabrication of oriented thin films by the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) method. In this research, side-chain LCPs with a polyethyleneimine chain and main chain LCPs with a polyoxyethylene chain were used. All of the LCPs formed a monolayer at the air-water interface. Moreover, their multilayered LB films were obtained on solid substrates. The bulk state of the side chain LCPs showed the multilayered structures with the perpendicular alignment of mesogenic groups similar to the LB films. Main-chain LCPs formed folding structures in the layers of the LB films. In the case of LB films of LCPs with azobenzene pendant groups, the initial periodic structures were rebuilt after the irradiation cycles.
