Solvent induced structural transitions in a liquid crystalline polyester

Quenched nematic films of a liquid crystalline polyester were crystallized either thermally or by solvent induced crystallization, and their structural organization was analyzed. All techniques show that the thermal crystallization transforms part of the nematic phase into a crystalline one, the remaining part leaving unchanged. By contrast, the solvent induced crystallization does transform a part of the nematic phase into a crystalline phase, leaving the residual past in a much more disordered state resembling the amorphous state.