The glass transition relaxation in a side-chain liquid crystalline polymer studied by modulated temperature differential scanning calorimetry

A side-chain liquid crystalline polyacrylate was investigated by modulated temperature differential scanning calorimetry (MTDSC) in the temperature region of the glass to liquid-crystal transformation. The technique provides the possibility of analysing the temperature dependence of the complex heat capacity, and of its real and imaginary components. This allows determination of the kinetic parameters associated with the glass transition, as well as the index of fragility of the substance. The obtained results show very good agreement with those recently obtained on the same sample by thermally stimulated depolarisation currents.