This book introduces various applications of liquid crystalline polymers as the emerging new class of high performance novel materials. The authors detail the advantageous properties of these LCs including optical anisotropic, transparency and easy control over structure. This interdisciplinary work includes valuable input from international projects with special focus on the use of liquid crystalline polymers and/or nanocomposites.

Drs. Vijay Kumar Thakur and Michael R. Kessler are both at the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University.

Liquid Crystals Order in Polymeric Micro channels.- Novel Liquid Crystal Polymers with Tailored Chemical Structure for High Barrier, Mechanical and Tribological Performance.- Selected Mechanical Properties of Uniaxial Side Chain Liquid Crystalline Elastomers.- Recent Advances in the Rheology of Thermotropic Liquid Crystal Polymers.- Liquid Crystalline Polymer and Its Composites: Chemistry& Recent Advances.- Effect of Polymer Network in Polymer Dispersed Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals (PSFLC).- Electro-Optic and Dielectric Responses in PDLC Composite Systems.- UV-Cured Networks Containing Liquid-Crystalline Phases: State of the Art and Perspectives.- Liquid Crystal Diffraction Gratings Using Photocrosslinkable Liquid Crystalline Polymer Films as Alignment Layers.- Liquid Crystalline Polymer Blends As Fillers for Self-Reinforcing Polymer Composites.- Optical Fredericks Transition in a Liquid Crystal Layer.- New Liquid Crystalline Poly (azomethine esters) Derived From PET Waste Bottles.- Liquid Crystalline Polymer Composites for Optoelectronics.- Functional Materials from Liquid Crystalline Cellulose Derivatives: Synthetic Routes, Characterization and Applications.- Liquid Crystal Polymers as Matrices for Arrangement of Inorganic Nanoparticles.- Side Chain Liquid Crystalline Polymers: Advances and Applications.- Liquid Crystalline Semiconducting Polymers for Organic Field-Effect Transistor Materials.- Azobenzene-Containing Liquid Single Crystal Elastomers for Photoresponsive Artificial Muscles.- Liquid Crystalline Epoxy Resin Based Nanocomposite.- Synthesis of Functional Liquid Crystalline Polymers for Exfoliated Clay Nanocomposites.- Liquid Crystalline Polymers as Tools for the Formation of Nanohybrids.