Synthesis and Photoinduced Reorientation of Polymethacrylates Comprising Photocrosslinkable Phenylbenzoate Mesogenic Side Groups

This paper describes synthesis and photoreaction of photocrosslinkable liquid crystalline (LC) polymethacrylates comprising phenyl benzoate mesogenic side groups attached with a photoreactive end group. All synthesized polymers exhibited a nematic LC nature. Irradiating the polymer film with linearly polarized ultraviolet (LPUV) light induced a negative optical anisotropy due to an axis-selective photoreaction of the mesogenic groups. When the exposed film was annealed at the LC temperature range reversion of the reorientation direction was observed, which was triggered by the photocrosslinked mesogenic groups act as "command in bulk".